Ashley Madison Review

How Does Ashley Madison Actually Work?

The experience for an Ashley Madison user is similar to many other dating sites, where users are expected to browse through several profiles to find a match. There is no restriction on location, and users can even match with profiles outside the country. The site has a database of more than 50 million users, and the process of finding a match is not very difficult with the plethora of filtering and sorting options.

Unlike a traditional dating site, Ashley Madison has developed a reputation for assisting married men and women in finding joy outside of their marriage. In fact, the tag line encourages visitors to have an affair. Due to this peculiar nature, Ashley Madison has to employ a lot of secrecy and discretion. Since its launch at the start of the century, Ashley Madison has been slowly expanding to other segments, reducing portfolio in specific options, and even setting new benchmarks. This may not be everyone’s choice of interest, but that is no denying that extramarital affairs have been growing at a rapid pace.

Here’s How to Sign-Up & Login

The registration process offered by Ashley Madison is easily understandable and straightforward. A nifty element of the registration process is the very little personal information required by the user. Since this site deals with extramarital affairs, it is understandable. However, users need to mention about their physical attributes and current relations status. There is no fee associated with users to sign up, and it takes around five minutes to complete the process.

Most of the time is taken up by choosing the display picture. Even after picking a photo, it this possible to perform simple edits for better response. The site also provides the option of blurring out images or protecting parts of the face with masks. The login process does not take long, and the result would be an entry into an exclusive community that has been growing at a furious pace in the last decade.

What About the Profile Interface Facilities?

The profile interface of a user can be customized in different ways. This customization begins with the profile picture, which can be set public, private, or hidden. A key has to be sent to allow other users to see private pictures. The profile can be used to convey information like current relationship status, languages known, interests, preferred limits, or any physical desires. Every user is provided with the option of uploading a maximum of 13 photographs. The ‘about me’ section will be able to talk about a person in general. Still, the action really begins in sections like “Activities”, where users can enter their personal preferences when trying to find a match.

The ability to set different profile statuses can be especially useful when a member is receiving messages from a string of users at the same time. This obviously causes red flags, and a profile can immediately be switched over to a discreet mode for safety purposes.

Ashley Madison Matches and Communication

All members have the option of creating a list of favourite profiles, and Ashley Madison does not charge any fee for this process. A member is to create up to 100 favourite profiles in a list, which can be modified as per interest. Even if a member is a part of the list, users can use the matching system to find a new member depending on their sexual preferences.

The female members of the site do not need to pay any fees for creating connections and starting conversations. The male members, however, need to purchase credits and use them to access many of the features. There are several ways to establish communication with chat being one of the prominent options.

If a member has a specific preference in terms of body type or appearance of their partner, it is easy to filter the options through a comprehensive tool. The tool’s effectiveness can be enhanced with the ability to include fetishes when trying to find a potential match. For example, a user may be interested in BDSM, and rather than spend time on 1 million profiles that are not into this activity, the filtering system can be used to spot an interested individual accurately.

Activities and Members Structure

The members of Ashley Madison are largely comprised of married or single individuals of both genders. These members are typically looking for casual relationships or one-night stands, and users have to lower their expectations of finding love. Even though there are members from different countries, most of the users are from the United States. The international platform caters to a large section of the audience who speak different languages. Due to the nature of this site, it is recommended to search for matches within your country or area. This way, differences in communication do not arise in a short-term relationship.

Users Age on Ashley Madison

Ashley Madison does not release information about its user base, but the number of females on the site happens to be between 25 and 65. A higher proportion of these users would be above 35 years of age. Unsurprisingly, men dominate the user base with more than 70%, while only 30% happen to be women. The demographic spread of men is somewhat consistent with users ranging from 25 to 70 available on the site.

Sexual Preferences

There is a strong presence of gay and heterosexual users at Ashley Madison. All users are required to mention their gender and preferred gender at the time of registration. The heterosexual users still make up the majority of users found on the site, but gays are not far behind. Similarly, most of the users are seeking one-night stands, hookups, extramarital affairs, and more.

Race and Ethnicity on Ashley Madison

Ashley Madison has a presence in 53 countries around the world. As a result, there is more than sufficient diversity when it comes to race and ethnicity. It is possible to filter results based on factors like ethnicity. The largest concentration of users happens to be Caucasian, while Asians and Blacks are not too far behind. Around 50% of the users are from the United States.

Religious Orientation

A user can always choose to sort and filter users based on religion. For those too picky, it is even possible to find users based on their star sign. A majority of the users come from Christian nations with the United States, Brazil, and Canada being the top three nations.

Ashley Madison Features

The Ashley Madison site can be elementary, but some nifty features can elevate the experience to a considerable level. For starters, these features are oriented towards helping users find the perfect match. The top options are:

Discreet Photos

A member can choose to make their photo private if required. In fact, all members have the option of coming up with a discreet photo. This is to protect the user’s personal information considering the delicate nature of the site theme. One can make the picture discreet by blurring the image, but it is also possible to add a mask to protect the identity. Once a potential match has been established, the photo can be opened to that specific user with a key.

Wink

The wink can be a great way to tell a potential match about interest. This function will be available on the member’s profile page, who is of greater interest than other matches, and it is a great way to send a casual wave or a hi. If the match works out, a serious conversation can be brought into the plate.

Travelling Man

This feature is meant for users who are always on the road. The mobile app has the functionality of being able to find nearby users. This feature manages to take advantage of this functionality to send out messages to multiple individuals at the same time. These messages are typically sent several days before the user heads to a particular location so that a potential match can be established in time.

Message Plus

A member who wishes to fall back to a member who was previously in touch can use this feature. It is typically available as a free trial after having purchased a package, and this trial comes with the validity of 30 days. If, for some reason, a member has been out of touch with a previous contact, this feature can be quite handy.

Favourites List

Since there are more than 50 million users on Ashley Madison, it can be challenging to keep track of users who could be potential matches. The matches that generate greater interest can be put into a list, which can hold up to 100 profiles for reference at a later stage. This can be useful for people who are already in touch with a couple of users on Ashley Madison, and they simply cannot keep up with an overwhelming set of messages.

Priority Man

This is a feature that can be used to boost the visibility of a profile. If a member opts for this feature, they have to spend some credits to avail the same. The feature will highlight a specific profile on the first results so that a user has increased chances of being an interest to female users.

Ashley Madison Safety & Security

The importance of security and privacy cannot be overstated in a site that provides an opportunity for extramarital affairs. Ashley Madison goes to great lengths when it comes to protecting the personal and financial information of its members, who are also better off following techniques like using a separate e-mail for creating an account. A password analyser is inbuilt into the signup process, and it will help create a strong password without much difficulty. Furthermore, all payments made on the site would appear as anonymous transactions that cannot be traced back. It is also possible to use the PayPal option for making payments if the user is not too happy with using credit cards.

The site uses 128-bit encryption rather than a more secure option of 256-bit encryption. Still, this standard should be more than sufficient, considering the presence of other options designed to enhance security. Crucially, the site is one of the few to have picked up a ‘Privacy by Design’ certification after achieving this status in 2017.

In the past, there have been data leaks, but Ashley Madison has not been the sole affected site, as many online dating sites have had their data compromised. For this reason, the site has introduced numerous features that can keep a user anonymous if they wish to increase their security levels.

Is Ashley MadisonLegit or Scam Service?

Ashley Madison is one of the reputed names when it comes to dating sites. The service has been around for more than a decade, and it has been able to establish as the gold standard for short-term dating or casual hookups – especially for married individuals. The service manages to attract quite a lot of disappointment amongst users for the lack of free options. Only women on the site can access the free features

Subscription Details

There is no subscription fee as such for Ashley Madison. However, members would have to purchase credits that can be used for various features on the site. The options to buy these credits are quite flexible, as they can be bought in different multiples.

Free

The free membership at Ashley Madison is the only applicable for its female users. All women on the site will be able to use all features for free. Yet, this is not the case for a male member who can only sign up for free. To use every other facet of Ashley Madison, men have to spend in the form of credits. Some of the free services available for members include viewing the profiles, creating a list of favourites, searching with the advanced filters, sending winks, and more.

Premium

Many significant features, such as being able to message or initiate contact, can be done only with the presence of credits. A user can buyjust 100 credits for US$ 59 at the rate of $0.59 for each credit. The price drops drastically when picking up credits in bulk, as 1000 credits would only cost $289. This translates into a price of $0.29 for each credit. A male member can use these credits to come up with personalized messages, chats, initiate travelled man features, collecting e-mails, boosted their profile, or send gifts virtually.

A subscription package is also available for avoiding the credit packages. These subscriptions would begin from just $69 per month, and it is usually accompanied by a whole host of features. If a potential member is not sure about the paid option, they can always use the free trial period of 30 days to assess the same.

Website Design, Usability & Interface

The design of Ashley Madison is simple, catchy, and well laid out. Even people who are not Internet savvy will be able to find their way around the site. It makes it very attractive to people of different ages. Yet, a potential user may find it challenging to get information about pricing and plans. The menu bar is capable of providing navigation to all pages and features provided by this site. For such an important aspect, Ashley Madison has not been great with the displacement of the menu bar. A member has to scroll through the pages to navigate frequently. In terms of comfort to the user, the site is very pleasing with a pink and white combination.

Ashley Madison’s App

The mobile application from Ashley Madison is capable of running on Android and iOS devices. The app does not take up a lot of space on the phone, and it has features similar to the desktop site. This can be a convenient option for people who are always on the move. Furthermore, the process of buying credits will be going through the Google Play account or iTunes rather than being billed to a credit card. It is, however, possible to hide the app. Even if it does not, the icon does not raise suspicion. Crucially, one can make use of the app to find profiles nearby.

Contact Info

Company: Ruby Life, Inc.

Address:PO Box 67027, Toronto, ON M4P 1E4 Canada

Phone: (416) 480-2334

E-mail: None

Conclusion

Ashley Madison comes with a clean interface that can be a great way to connect with individuals in the world. However, men may have to purchase credits to stand a chance of finding a date. The site does not disclose the male to female ratio, but it is clear that the women are less in number. Apart from being able to purchase credits and initiate contact, Ashley Madison also provides different ways of making the profile stand out.

The average member may take a while before getting success, but that this site has been very successful to a vast majority of users. The fewer fake profiles compared to competitors, coupled with the anonymity, make Ashley Madison standout. The most significant disadvantage would be for a male user, who has to spend money, whereas a female counterpart can enjoy the site services for free. Even with such a disadvantage, Ashley Madison is a top choice for hookups, one-night stands, and even affairs.