CAMPBELL, Calif. – The public is leery of dating sites. Although data privacy is one concern, the bigger worry is about the legitimacy of member profiles. Consumers have been slapped in the face once too often with evidence some networks use bots and generate fake profiles to lure flies into their webs.

FriendFinder Networks said it has always eschewed bots and other sneaky tricks, and the company is determined to hold to its policy. It’s also determined to hold competing sites accountable for failing to make the same pledge.

“Last October we challenged our competition to make similar assurances to their members, but they have declined to do so,” said Product Marketing Director Scott Thompson. “To emphasize our commitment to this policy, we’re putting our money where our mouth is by offering free one-month Gold memberships to users from the competing websites that will not commit to refraining from this practice [of using bots and fake profiles].”

Fake profiles are one thing, but bots are particularly egregious since they play particularly disruptive social-engineering games. Often attached to fake profiles, bots communicate with users as though the bots were real people. The practice is a marketing technique designed to convert test-drivers into paying members.

“We built our business on real interactions with real members,” Thompson said. “It’s just a reality that many sites out there fool members with machine-generated messages from fake profiles. We will never support this practice.

“For nearly 20 years, we’ve relied on great features and a welcoming, sex-positive community to bring new members to our site,” he continued. “Now we’re giving new members a chance to experience it for free.”

All users need to do to collect the free offer is prove they are members of a competing adult dating site. For a limited time, they’ll get to experience a month’s worth of AFF’s Gold Membership benefits.

“We hope this promotion will give users who have been duped by other sites the chance to meet great people on a site designed for real members looking for real connections,” Thompson said.

Visit AdultFriendFinder.com/1monthfreegold for details.