Badoo
Badoo is a dating-focused[3] social network founded by Russian entrepreneur Andrey Andreev in 2006.[4] It is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus and London, United Kingdom,[5] with offices in Malta, Russia and the United States. It operates in 190 countries[6] and is available in 47 languages, making it the world's most widely used dating network.[7] The app is available on iOS, Android, and the web. Badoo operates on a freemium model, whereby the core services can be used without payment.
Type of site
47 languages
Russia
Bumble Inc.
(formerly MagicLab)[1]
Badoo Trading Limited
Required
November 2006[2]
Active
Badoo has several features that enable users to meet people. When they first sign up, individuals select whether they want to meet new people to date, chat or to make new friends. Users can chat,[17] match with others, upload photos and videos, as well as share their interests and see any friends in common.
The main features include:
Badoo has developed numerous safety features to ensure users are real and verified. Such features include the 'selfie request' button,[23] through which women can request a man they're speaking to send a 'selfie' to prove they are the same person as in the pictures. This 'selfie request' feature is only available to female account holders; it is unavailable to male Badoo users [24]
The company has also developed a photo verification process, where users upload a photo of themselves mimicking a specific pose.[25] This photo is then verified in a minute by one of Badoo's 5,000 moderators.
Badoo is a freemium service, where the basic service is free for everyone but users have an option to pay for premium features. Such features include, ‘Rise Up’, which allows users to pay to give their profile more visibility on the site for a limited time. In late 2007, 20% of Badoo's then 22 million users were paying for heightened visibility at least once a month.[26] However, according to The Economist, by 2011 only 5% of members were paying for the premium services.[27]
Users can also pay to have their profile photo more widely visible across the site.[10] "Super Powers" enables users to see more search results, as well as who wants to meet them and which of their messages have been read.
Criticisms[edit]
In a peer-reviewed study by Cambridge University in 2009,[28] it was given the lowest score for privacy among the 45 social networking sites examined.[29]
Finnish newspaper Iltalehti reported that numerous Badoo profiles were created without people's consent, and that people have reported Badoo's actions to the police.[30]
According to Google's transparency report on the requests for search removals stemming from the "right to be forgotten" ruling, Badoo had the eighth-highest number of URLs removed from Google Search, with Facebook, YouTube, Google Groups and Twitter receiving a higher number of these requests.[31]
A CNET review by Rafe Needleman described Badoo's first impression as "creepy". He said that though the site was advertised as a way to meet local friends with shared interests, it was more like a photo-based dating site. He also said the way it matches users was "obscure".[11]