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Badoo

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Badoo
Type of site
Dating
Available in47 languages
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Country of originRussia
OwnerBumble Inc.
(formerly MagicLab)[1]
Created byAndrey Andreev
ParentBadoo Trading Limited
URLbadoo.com
CommercialFreemium
RegistrationRequired
LaunchedNovember 2006; 18 years ago (2006-11)[2]
Current statusActive

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.

History

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First logo, used from November 2006–April 2017
Second logo, used from April 2017–June 2019
Third logo, used from June 2019–February 2022
Fourth logo, used from February 2022–November 2023

Badoo was founded by Russian entrepreneur Andrey Andreev and launched in Moscow in November 2006.[8] It has since ranked among the most popular dating websites.[9] In 2016, it was the most downloaded dating app in 21 countries.[7] In 2011, Wired described Badoo as a "mass phenomenon" in Brazil, Mexico, France, Spain, and Italy.[10]

In 2007, Badoo raised $30 million in funding.[11] In January 2008, the Russian investor Finam Capital paid $30 million for a 10% stake in Badoo for expansion in Russia.[12] As of 2009, Finam now has 20% ownership of Badoo.[8]

Badoo was asked to adjust its approach after going viral on Facebook through popular social games and quizzes.[13] The official launch of Badoo in the U.S. was on March 23, 2012, with Nick Cannon introducing the service in the United States.[14]

In April 2017, Badoo launched a newly redesigned app and brand, adopting the colour purple and an orange heart symbol as its logo and the tagline "Bigger than Dating". Andreev discussed this redesign in an interview with Business Insider's James Cook in the same month.[4]

In 2018, Badoo was the subject of a Forbes investigative report outlining workplace misogyny, illegal drug use, as well as sexual and racial discrimination. Thirteen Badoo employees reported a culture of workplace afterparties involving use of recreational drugs and prostitutes, along with several instances of sexual assault and harassment. An internal email list would circulate photos of parties and pornography of an employee. Technical updates were named after pornography performers.[15][16]

Features

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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.[citation needed]

The main features include:

  • People Nearby: Users can see and contact people who live in their area, as well as those they 'Bumped Into' with this feature.[18]
  • Search: Users can also see who is on the app in a different city or another part of the world.[18]
  • Encounters: Another free feature, where users swipe right (yes) or left (no) on other users' profiles. If there is a match the two users are notified.[19]
  • Video Chat: In August 2017, Badoo launched its video chat function that allows users to connect real-time, once they've exchanged messages.[20] In summer 2018, Badoo launched a livestream feature that was able to broadcast the video to several users at the same time[21] but the feature was removed on 16 April 2020.[22]

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

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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]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ LaPorte, Nicole (July 15, 2020). "Bumble hits 100 million users—and has new plans to take over the dating world". Fast Company.
  2. ^ "Badoo FAQ". Badoo. Archived from the original on 2015-01-07. Retrieved November 15, 2006.
  3. ^ "Badabing Badaboom – Badoo Hits 150 Million Users, Boosted By Mobile". TechCrunch. AOL. 4 May 2012.
  4. ^ a b "The reclusive CEO of dating app Badoo on his app's redesign, Bumble, and why he won't IPO any time soon". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  5. ^ Badoo – Terms of Use Accessed August 2009.
  6. ^ Toglia, Michelle (2016-03-25). "Here's How Dating App Badoo's Photo Verification Will Wipe Out Catfishing". Bustle.
  7. ^ a b "The Dating Game". BBC News. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
  8. ^ a b "Project Portfolio – Badoo". Finam Capital. 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-02-28. Retrieved 2011-02-10.
  9. ^ "Top 15 Most Popular Dating Websites". eBizMBA. September 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Rowan, David. "How Badoo built a billion-pound social network... on sex". Wired UK. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  11. ^ a b Needleman, Rafe (February 23, 2012). "Badoo: Social experiment or hookup site?". CNET. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  12. ^ Butcher, Mike (21 January 2008). "UK's Badoo pulls $30m for Russian launch, ahead of a home push". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
  13. ^ "Huge Facebook App Loses 75% Uniques After Facebook Threatens It". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
  14. ^ "Social Network Badoo Officially Launches in U.S. With Nick Cannon [PICS]". Mashable. 23 March 2012.
  15. ^
  16. ^ Albert-Deitch, Cameron (9 July 2019). "Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Bumble's Majority Investor Threaten to Throttle the Company's Pro-Woman Cred". Inc. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  17. ^ Frommer, Dan. "The Biggest Startup You've Never Heard Of Is About To Hit 108 Million Members". Business Insider. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  18. ^ a b "New look". team.badoo.com. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  19. ^ Frommer, Dan. "The Biggest Startup You've Never Heard Of Is About To Hit 108 Million Members". Business Insider.
  20. ^ "Video dating app Badoo could help you to filter out misleading singles". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  21. ^ "Badoo plans to drop the swipe from its dating app as it tests live video broadcasts". 6 June 2018.
  22. ^ "We want to encourage our community to focus on making connections, rather than spending time viewing streams".
  23. ^ "This dating app has a genius way of preventing catfishing". Cosmopolitan. 2016-07-11. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
  24. ^ "How to Request a Selfie in Badoo". TechJunkie. BOX 20. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  25. ^ Taub, Alexander. "Badoo's Selfie Verification Is A Unique Way Of Solving The Catfishing Problem". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
  26. ^ Sweney, Mark (24 December 2007). "Elevator Pitch: Why Badoo wants to be the next word in social networking". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 March 2008.
  27. ^ "A nightclub on your smartphone". The Economist. 19 September 2011. Archived from the original on 21 September 2011.
  28. ^ Bonneau, Joseph; Preibusch, Sören (2009), "The Privacy Jungle: On the Market for Privacy in Social Networks" (PDF), WEIS '09: Proceedings of the Eighth Workshop on the Economics of Information Security.
  29. ^ Social networks ‘failing users’ The Daily Telegraph 21 Jul 2009.
  30. ^ "Treffipalvelu varastaa profiilitiedot: Varo tätä sovellusta Facebookissa". Iltalehti (in Finnish). 21 January 2011. Archived from the original on January 23, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  31. ^ "European privacy requests for search removals". Transparency Report. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
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