Ashley Madison Claims 'Hundreds of Thousands' of New Users Have Created Accounts in the Last Week The company's latest blog post reads like a weak, desperate attempt to save face.
By Laura Entis
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Extramarital affair dating site Ashley Madison's identity was based on its ability to facilitate private, discreet affairs.
Considering recent events – in which hackers exposed the personal information and account details of more than 33 million of its members – you'd think it may be time for the company to throw in the towel.
Instead, Ashley Madison just came out swinging. In a new blog post, the company suggests that in contrast to reports that the hack attack has crushed its business, things are actually going swimmingly.
Related: Has the Ashley Madison Hacker Been Identified?
"Despite having our business and customers attacked, we are growing," the post reads. "This past week alone, hundreds of thousands of new users signed up for the Ashley Madison platform – including 87,596 women."
The company also refuted reports that the leaked data revealed Ashley Madison's user base contained almost no real women:
Last week alone, women sent more than 2.8 million messages within our platform. Furthermore, in the first half of this year the ratio of male members who paid to communicate with women on our service versus the number of female members who actively used their account (female members are not required to pay to communicate with men on Ashley Madison) was 1.2 to 1.
Regardless of the number of actual women on the site, the entire blog post reads like a weak, desperate and grasping attempt to save face.
Related: Bankers Say Ashley Madison Can Kiss IPO Plans Goodbye
Ashley Madison was the victim of an illegal hack, yes. But in light of the fact that its members' private, personal information has been splashed across the Internet (no doubt ruining not just marriages, but entire lives), it's perhaps ill-advised to pen a promotional post that ends like this:
"Ashley Madison is the number one service for real people seeking discreet encounters. We invite everyone to visit our website or our app and make up their own mind."
It's unclear what Ashley Madison is hoping to achieve here. Even before the attack, leaked emails indicate that the company had been struggling for years to either find a buyer or raise funds, Reuters reports. Among other failed attempted sales, a potential acquisition by Barry Diller's IAC/Interactive Corp – the media giant that owns Match.com and Tinder – was a bust.
The post comes just days after the company announced Noel Biderman was stepping down as its CEO.
Related: Ashley Madison Says It Is Relieved It Isn't Being Judged After Hack
