Sorry, Josh Duggar; your reputation might have been destroyed for nothing after all.
Confirming what many had probably already long suspected, the newly installed leadership of Ashley Madison parent company Avid Life Media admitted this week that the dating website, which helps married individuals have secret affairs, had been using bots to entice subscribers.
The revelation came via a press release announcing the appointment of Avid Life Media CEO Rob Segal and president James Millership, who said that, while the use of bots had occurred in the past, such was no longer the case.
"My understanding is that bots are widespread in the industry, but they are no longer being used, and will not be used, at Avid Life Media and Ashley Madison," Millership said.
That conclusion was reached via a forensic investigation to "review past business practices around bots and the ratio of male and female US members who were active on the site." The investigation concluded that the company stopped using bots in North America in 2014 and internationally last year.
What are they going to tell us next — that the site wasn't actually created by a woman named Ashley Madison?
The tech website Gizmodo reported in August that "Ashley Madison created more than 70,000 female bots to send male users millions of fake messages, hoping to create the illusion of a vast playland of available women." In reality, Gizmodo reported this week, "The company says its real male-to-female ratio is actually about five to one."
