Now I know what you’re thinking: leave it to the French to come up with a dating site for extramarital affairs (er, cheating?). After all, local entrepreneurs have come up with some rather original ideas in this space before. Remember Ladieshoesme? Or Adoptaguy? There’s event Loue une petite amie (literally translates to “rent a girlfriend”). Yet oddly enough, I haven’t found anything along the lines of Cougarlife…
But actually, believe it or not, the idea behind extramarital dating site Gleeden isn’t unique to France. In fact, Canadian-owned competitor, Ashley Madison, counts over 9 million “anonymous” registered users that are seeking a bit of…well, you get my point.
When users sign up, they can specify whether or not they are married and whether or not they are seeking someone who is married as well. And if you’re single, that’s OK too.
While the idea for this type of online community seems to anger more than just a few people, Gleeden’s network has been profitable since the year it launched (2009). Unlike a number of dating sites, Gleeden doesn’t ask for a monthly membership fee. The site is entirely free for females and males purchase bundles of credits which can then go towards sending messages, virtual gifts, etc. Therefore, you pay for what you consume and not just a flat monthly fee.
Today, the site counts over 720K members – although dispersed throughout 159 countries. Guess that means it’s more about cyber cheating than actual cheating? Regardless, Gleeden plans to add one more country to the list and will be launching in the US before the end of the month.