Online Personals Watch: News on the Online Dating Industry and Business

Extra-marital Dating Platform Gleeden Claims 300K Users in India

THE ECONOMIC TIMES - Feb 19 - Primarily marketed to women - specifically those who are already in a relationship - Gleeden was launched in France in 2009 and arrived in India in 2017. Today, it has ~4.9 M registered users globally, mostly from the EU. In India, it has crossed ~300K subscribers within less than two years of its launch. Gleeden.com is run by a female team and is completely free for women users.

See full article at The Economic Times

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Adultery Decriminalized In India

INDIA TIMES - Oct 2 - Buoyed by recent Supreme Court judgements that decriminalized adultery and consensual same sex relations, extramarital dating apps are now betting big on the India growth story. Extramarital dating app Gleeden, Grindr, and matchmaking app Wingman expect significant growth in the country. Gleeden already has ~340K users in the country, up from 120K last year. Its three biggest markets are Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru with Mumbai alone having 85K users.

by Anumeha Chatuverdi
See full article at India Times

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Gleeden Claims 270K Users In India

NEW INDIAN EXPRESS - Aug 4 - Should adultery be tried as an offence in India, or should the state and its courts stay out of it? A petition submitted to the Supreme Court has started a debate around this. Meanwhile Gleeden, an app that provides a platform for 'extramarital dating' is doing very well in India. It has 2.7 lakh (270K) users in India. Gleeden was launched officially in India in August 2017 but Indians were using its services way before that. Gleeden Indian users mostly come from big cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru. Most of the members have a privileged professional background. A lot of them are senior executives, doctors, lawyers or bankers, says Solene Paillet, Head of Communication Management of Gleeden.

See full article at New Indian Express

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Gleeden And Its Success In India

MID-DAY - Apr 24 - Gleeden.com, the extra-marital dating site, entered India last year, and claims 280K Indian users. Here is an interview with Solene Paillet, the site's spokesperson about its success so far.

Q: What brought Gleeden.com to the Indian market?
A: We saw a real potential in India after we notices a lot of users registering from India.

Q: Cheating in a marriage is a punishable offence in India, so how does the website circumvent that?
A: We are not promoting adultery. We allow married people to interact on a secured platform in complete privacy.

Q: What are the safety measures you have adopted?
A: We have a very strict moderation policy. Photos and texts that are fake, indecent or provocative are automatically refused. Members are banned if they do not respect the regulations. Users can also report abuse.

Q: What are your expectations from the Indian market?
A: Our goal is to get very good brand awareness, being the extramarital expert for Indian media and become the unique player in India.

See full article at Mid-Day

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Gleeden Has 190K Registered Users In India

NEWSBYTES - Sep 13 - Since the launch of Gleeden, the dating site for married people, it has registered 190K members in India. 75% of these are men and most are in the age group of 34-49. Most members are based in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. As of 2017, Gleeden is available in six languages and 159 countries.

by Gogona Saikia
See full article at NewsBytes

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Infidelity App Gleeden Has Over 100K Users In India

LIVEMINT - May 29 - Gleeden, a dating site/app for married individuals, is making inroads in India and already has 120K subscribers. Run entirely by a team of 20 women, the website is free for female subscribers, men pay for subscription packages starting at Rs. 700. So far, the online dating industry in India has been dominated by apps like Tinder, Truly Madly, Woo, Thrill and Happn, according to KPMG. ~6M singles are estimated to be registered on several dating apps across the country.

by Harveen Ahruwalia
See full article at Livemint

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Gleeden, The French Version Of Ashley Madison, To Enter India

DESIBLITZ - May 3 - Gleeden, the French dating app for married people, has made its way to India. The app began as a group of French women decided they wanted to escape their monogamous marriages for a while. As a result, they created Gleeden for similar-minded married people.

by Sarah-Louise Kearney
See full article at Desiblitz

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France: Catholics Lose Court Case Against Gleeden

EURONEWS - Feb 9 - The National Confederation of Catholic Family Associations (CNAFC) brought the case against BlackDivine, the parent company of Gleeden, claiming that the business model was illegal and anti-social, and in direct violation of the civil code. A Paris court has ruled against the Catholic group. During the court case, the Catholic association called for an end to Gleeden's ad campaigns, claiming they preached infidelity. It also demanded the cancellation of contracts between the site and its customers. Gleeden describes itself as "the first extramarital dating site made by women." The company was founded in France in 2009.

by Sarah Joanne Taylor
See full article at Euronews

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Most Dating Sites Have Bad Password Practices

FORBES - Sep 10 - An analysis of the security practices of 24 leading online dating sites has concluded that only seven use secure-enough password practices. Password management company Dashlane assessed each site on 19 different criteria, including the minimum length for a password to be acceptable, and whether there was a requirement for a mix of letters and numbers. Only Zoosk and OkCupid score ~50%. Most mainstream Internet services generally get 75 or above; Apple scores 100%. eHarmony scores 38, while Match.com, Gleeden and Adult Friend Finder all get 30%. At the bottom end of the scale, Badoo and POF with 22.

by Emma Woollacott
See full article at Forbes

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Security Consultant: "Most Dating Sites Have Been Breached"

IBTIMES.CO.UK - July 28 - The recent attack on Ashley Madison is not the first security breach of a dating site. Other sites including extramarital dating site Gleeden, have had their user data accessed and sold on the dark web. The end-users were never alerted. The ugly truth about dating sites is that many of them get breached.

by Alex Holden
See full article at IBTimes.co.uk

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Ashley Madison: Infidelity Could Be A $1B Business

BBC - May 25 - AshleyMadison attempts to raise $200M in an IPO in London - which would value it at ~$1B. This isn't the first time Avid Life Media, Ashley Madison's parent company, have sought an IPO. In 2011, the company attempted to list in Toronto, but was forced to withdraw its offering. European investors might be willing to overlook a few things if the top line figures look good. But some potential investors have questioned the firm's numbers, after former staff and users have complained of a plethora of fake profiles on the site. The company admits many people sign up and never actually do anything. And of course, there is the competition. Gleeden, a French infidelity service that launched in 2009, says it has 2.6M members, primarily in Europe. Manuel Montevidoni, the CFO of Gleeden said: "I don't understand why Ashley Madison is looking for financing." But he supports Ashley Madison's efforts, mostly because it brings public awareness to the ubiquity of infidelity.

by Kim Gittleson
See full article at BBC

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Gleeden Sued For Targeting Married People

BBC - Mar 18 - A dating site for married people is being accused of breaking the law. A court in France must now decide whether the company is illegally encouraging spouses to cheat. Fidelity in marriage is written into French civil law. In France, all law is based on written codes which can be amended by parliament. Judges are free to interpret the codes, but their room for manoeuvre is much more limited than in a common law system like the UK's. And in Article 212 of the Civil Code, it states: "Married partners owe each other the duty of respect, fidelity, help and assistance." The ads which caused such horror among conservatives and Catholics encourage wives to think that cheating is both permissible and fun. One poster displayed on buses and metros shows an attractive young woman in a bridal dress with her fingers crossed behind her back. The message is clear: vows are for suckers. Founded in 2009, the website says it has 2.3M members in Europe including one million in France. It has smaller operations in the US and other countries.

by Hugh Schofield
See full article at BBC

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Gleeden Unsettles The Land Of Discreet Affairs

NY TIMES - Mar 9 - Gleeden's latest ad campaign — evoking the temptations of Eve with a partly eaten apple — has spawned a backlash and a national debate in France. The Catholic Family Associations filed a legal complaint against the site. Bus company Keolis said it withdrew the ad last month after receiving 500 complaints in a week. An anti-Gleeden petition that was circulated on social media garnered ~20K signatures. Gleeden launched in 2009, and has ~1M subscribers in France and 2.4M globally.

by Dan Bilefsky
See full article at NY Times

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Gleeden Sees Impressive Growth In French Market

LE MONDE - Jan 24 – Gleeden, an infidelity site created by and for women, has reached 800,000 users in France, with 1.8 million members across all regions. In comparison, Ashley Madison boasts 22 million global members, though their French membership is only 400,000. A survey commissioned by Gleeden in 2010 revealed that 37% of the 500 people interviewed “had cheated or may have cheated.”

by Gaelle Dupont
The full article was originally published at World Crunch, but is no longer available.

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Infidelity In France: It's Okay To Stray

GLOBAL POST - Apr 10 - The French have the world's highest level of tolerance towards infidelity. Unless it’s women who are cheating. According to Gleeden.com, the extramarital dating site 53% of those questioned in France said it was possible to cheat on your partner while still loving them. It was the highest rate for all countries surveyed by Gleeden. Maryse Vaillant, a celebrated French psychologist and author of the book Men, Love, Fidelity, famously said that wives should welcome their husbands' extra-marital affairs as a sign of a healthy marriage because a "pact of fidelity is not natural but cultural." "It's different to the US where cheating on your wife is seen as very bad, by the wife, the cheater and the whole community. There, people would rather get divorced and remarry, whereas in France we can imagine someone being married and having relationships at the same time", he added.

by Iva Roze Skoch
See full article at Global Post

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Gleeden Comes To America

HUFFINGTON POST - Mar 26 - This month, AshleyMadison.com, America's largest online extramarital dating service, celebrates its 10th anniversary and rapid growth worldwide. Hoping to grab a piece of this digital pie, Gleeden is now stepping up its marketing efforts in the U.S. It was launched in France in 2009 by two French brothers, Teddy and Ravy Truchot, who were approached by several women and fellow employees with marital issues. "The women voiced their need for a place, a playground for adults, where they'll be able to be in control and carry out an extramarital affair with utmost discretion," said Gleeden spokesperson. Gleeden positions itself as the first web site run exclusively by and for women.

by Debra Ollivier
See full article at Huffington Post

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Sites That Cater To 'Discreet' Encounters Thriving

USA TODAY - Feb 14 - For Noel Biderman and others who have founded dating websites for married people, it's a lucrative business. "The day after Valentine's Day is one of our biggest days of the year," says Biderman, founder and CEO of AshleyMadison (AM). Some of the sites are based in Europe and increasingly have become international, with their eye on the USA. "American people are really hypocrites about infidelity," says Teddy Truchot, co-founder of Gleeden, which launched in Europe in 2009, moved into Australia and entered the U.S. market last fall. "Everything from the U.S. which comes to Europe is about infidelity," says Truchot. "You see cheating all over TV and in real life." Data from 2010 from the General Social Survey shows that 19% of men and 14% of women reported ever having had an extramarital partner. AM earns well over $60M a year, suggests online dating industry analyst Mark Brooks. Biderman says that estimate is "on target," but he's expecting greater revenue this year ($100M). Industry tracker Brooks counts well over 30 cheating websites. He is quick to disclose that he has been a paid consultant for many online dating services, including those he calls "philanderer sites." "The philandering sites are specific to people who are wanting to be discreet," he says. "As much as I abhor these sites, they do actually do something good for the industry. People can be who they are on the philanderer sites," he says, rather than have married people claiming to be single, which happens on singles dating sites, he says. Biderman says it took five years to get the first 1M anonymous members. Currently, ~2.3M are registered and considered active by logging in or taking an action within the past 30 days. Brooks says he's surprised that in 10 years, Biderman's site hasn't had a lot of direct competition. Part of it, he says, is that "people don't like to start that kind of business." But Gleeden is ready to take that on.

by Sharon Jayson
See full article at USA Today

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All 2012 Valentine's Day News

Gleeden.com Launches In The U.S.

GLOBE NEWSWIRE - Nov 16 - Gleeden.com, an extramarital site already popular in Europe, is launching in the US. The site was launched by brothers who first conceived the idea from listening to the frustrations and marital problems of the women surrounding them; friends, family and colleagues. "It is the first dating site that is completely developed by women to cater to women's needs. Other websites focus on the needs and wants for men to have physical affairs without being discovered. Gleeden.com promotes honesty and freedom within a couple", the site claims. According to Gleeden, extramarital affairs can intervene as therapy for a couple.

The full article was originally published at MarketWatch, but is no longer available.

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Gleeden.com Launches in USA

EON - Sep 28 - Gleeden.com, the extramarital dating site, launches in the US. The site claims to have 1M members in 100+ countries. Officially launched 18 months ago in Europe by US-based venture capital fund, BlackDivine, Gleeden caters to people seeking affairs outside their relationships.

The full article was originally published at EON, but is no longer available.

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Strings Attached: Online Dating for Married People

FOX BUSINESS - Sep 7 - Nothing is off limits when it comes to the Internet. Fox Business checked in with four dating sites for married people.

AshleyMadison.com
Started: 2001
Members: 11M in 15 countries, 7M in the U.S.

Q&A with Noel Biderman, CEO of Avid Life Media
Q: When do you notice an uptick in traffic?
A: The days after Father’s Day, Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day.

Gleeden.com
Started: 2009
Members: 1M

Q&A with Gleeden.com spokerperson

Q: Were you surprised at the response level/interest from people?
A: Not surprised at all. The concept of relationships outside of the marriage has been around a long time, it is as old as marriage itself. 

Q: Why do you think married people turn to a site like this?
A: In today’s day and age, it’s very difficult to be married and faithful.

NoStringsAttached.com
Started: 2010
Members: 3.4M

Q&A with Anthony Previte, CEO of FriendFinder Networks
Q: Why married people turn to a site like this?
A: The opportunity to cheat is the best with people you know. These are also the most dangerous because it's only a matter of time before your partner finds out. Sites like NoStringsAttached are safer.  

MarriedSecrets.com
Started: 2003
Members: “In the hundreds of thousands"

Q&A With Jason Baker, spokesperson.
Q: Why do you think married people turn to a site like this? 
A: Often times the main theme is that people are looking to find an intimacy that they are not getting at home. 

by Kathryn Tuggle
The full article was originally published at Fox Business, but is no longer available.

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