Websites Cater to 'Discreet' Encounters as Marital Infidelity Becomes the Norm

Folks might have been wondering about my new Blogad at the sidebar, the one that says, "Sex RARELY happens. When it Does, It's Beyond BORING! It's Time for a New Discreet Partner!"

I don't click through, but hovering over shows a link to the website called "Online Affairs." And you know, as much as I like the Rule 5 blogging, I have mixed feelings about these "discreet" dating services, which are basically hookups sites for online cheating.

Blogads can be pre-approved, so I'll update if I change my mind about these. Meanwhile, USA Today has a feature story on this advertising trend in today's paper. See, "Sites like Ashley Madison Cater to 'Discreet' Encounters, Cheating":

Husbands and wives take note: If Valentine's Day expectations aren't met, your mate might soon be looking elsewhere for a little romance and appreciation.

That may sound like a cautionary tale, but 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 Ashley Madison, a 10-year-old site that unapologetically caters to "discreet" encounters for the married or otherwise attached. "People are disappointed by their spouses' lack of effort, and they feel especially undervalued when there is a societal expectation of romance. Certain days of the year act as litmus tests for many people in relationships."

Websites designed to facilitate cheating appear to be thriving; some earn tens of millions of dollars a year, and competition is growing. In addition to Toronto-based Ashley Madison, there's a growing crop of copycats that equate affairs with romance, passion and adventure.

Whether these sites promote cheating or just facilitate it is up for debate.

"People are going to cheat regardless of whether Ashley Madison is there or not," says sociologist Diane Kholos Wysocki of the University of Nebraska-Kearney, who has surveyed the site's members for her latest research. "There's a bigger social issue going on — people aren't taking care of their marriages.

"It's not so much that they're going to these cheating websites because the sex is greater or the person is more beautiful. It's because the person is giving them attention they're not getting at home."

Continue reading.

Maybe I'll post a disclaimer for the Blogads, like Betsy Newmark, "Betsy neither necessarily uses nor endorses the products advertised on this site."