Category: Badoo

Problems Dating Sites Are Facing & Their Solutions

Posted on July 4, 2012

Online dating - heart on keyboardFAST COMPANY – June 28 – Online dating has ballooned to a $4 billion business. Now the industry faces new players and challenges.

oneGoodLove
Problem: Dominated by hookup sites like Grindr and Manhunt, the gay online-dating space underserves relationship-minded folks.
Solution: OneGoodLove, a sort of eHarmony for the gay and lesbian community, is evolving its matching system.

OkCupid
Problem:  To improve matching algorithms, sites need to know who goes on dates with whom and how those dates turn out.
Solution: OkCupid Labs wants to advance its mobile platform to gather new kinds of data on real-world dating behavior. Via the app, users will be encouraged to give instant feedback about their dates with other OkCupiders.

Badoo 
Problem: As online daters become conditioned to screening potential mates via in-depth profiles, the process of meeting new people online grows further from how offline attraction really works.
Solution: A social discovery app, Badoo facilitates meetings on the fly by encouraging users to find people right around them based on nothing more than a photo, an age, and an interest or two.

HowAboutWe
Problem: A happy customer is a lost user.
Solution: HowAboutWe, a site that connects people based on user-suggested activities, is launching a service for couples.

by Dan Slater
See full article at Fast Company

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Badoo Hits 150 Million Users, Boosted By Mobile

Posted on May 7, 2012

Badoo logoTECH CRUNCH – May 4 – Where Facebook concentrated on linking up with existing friends and friends of friends, Badoo was oriented towards you meeting new people all the time, and for others to push themselves out there. That gave it an obvious flirtatious feel. Currently on 150M users, Badoo is one of the top five social networks globally according to comScore, and its growth is being significantly powered by mobile (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and WAP worldwide). In the U.S. market it’s seeing more new registrations on mobile than on Web, with 68% of new users coming to the site via mobile over the past six months. Mobile usage has grown by 100% since November 2011, and Badoo says is it more than doubling mobile revenues. Badoo has seen over 60% growth YOY with 35M active users per month worldwide, adding 150K new users a day. Badoo is still in profit and has an annual run rate of $150M.

by Mike Butcher
See full article at Tech Crunch

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This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

39% Of Americans Spend More Time Socializing Online Than Face-to-Face

Posted on April 26, 2012

Badoo logoMARKETWIRE – Apr 25 – 39% of Americans spend more time socializing online compared to face-to-face, more than in the U.K. (36%) and Germany (35%), according to a study by Badoo. Aside from feelings of loneliness, the survey revealed that people could embellish the truth when sharing online, perhaps to appear more interesting to others, or to "control" their online persona. 25% of American respondents admit they have exaggerated or lied about who they've met or what they've done on their social networks, with a staggering 39% having shared bad news, such as a death or divorce.

The full article was originally published at MarketWatch, but is no longer available.

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Badoo Hires Google Exec Ben Ling As New COO

Posted on April 19, 2012

Badoo benjamin linTECH CRUNCH – Apr 19 – Badoo has appointed long-time Google executive Benjamin Ling as COO to help push it out across mobile and Web platforms. Ling was product management director of Search Products and Local Business Products at Google. Ling will begin his new role at Badoo in May.

by Mike Butcher
See full article at Tech Crunch

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This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

Badoo Plans To Win America With Spanish

Posted on April 18, 2012

Badoo logoGIGAOM – Apr 18 – You can’t mention Badoo, which claims to be the world’s fourth-largest social network, without mentioning sex. But that’s not a characterization that anyone at the company, including notoriously reclusive founder and CEO Andrey Andreev, is happy with. They see the service they’ve built as a sort of virtual nightclub, where people can go to make friends or simply talk to other interesting people.The company already boasts 130M users, but if it wants to carry on growing it needs to eradicate the scent of sleaze — particularly in America. To get there, the company is focusing on Hispanic market. Badoo already has 8M registered users in the U.S., up 77% in the last six months, and a disproportionate amount of its users are Spanish-speaking. Right now, 22% of registered users in America use Spanish as their primary language. Given that 10% of Americans are native Spanish speakers, that’s a considerable skew.

by Bobbie Johnson
See full article at GigaOm

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This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

Badoo Powers HotOrNot

Posted on April 2, 2012

HotornotTECH CRUNCH – Apr 2 - Badoo is now powering HotOrNot. The financial terms were not disclosed. While Badoo bills itself more as a social network than a straight dating site, and Hotornot is more of a game-like ratings site, you can see how the two might complement each other as Badoo expands out the features it offers to users.

by Ingrid Lunden
See full article at Tech Crunch

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How CMO Jessica Powell Is Introducing Badoo To The U.S.

Posted on March 26, 2012

Badoo jessica powellFORBES – Mar 23 - Badoo.com is launching a new marketing campaign in New York. Forbes spoke to Jessica Powell, the chief marketing officer of Badoo, to learn more about the start-up, her marketing initiatives, and the purpose of The Badoo Project.

Q: What’s Badoo.com?
A: Badoo is the world’s largest social network for meeting new people. It first launched in 2006, and we now have ~140M registered users worldwide and~125K new users signing up every day.

Q: How is it different than Facebook and LinkedIn?
A: It is all about meeting new people. People use the site for making new friends, chatting, flirting, and dating.

Q: Do you even consider Facebook a competitor?
A: Wonderfully for us, we view them as very separate.

Q: Tell me about your marketing strategy. How do you recruit new users?
A: To date, we’ve benefited from viral and word-of-mouth organic growth. Now, however, we’re at a stage in our company growth where certain more formal marketing strategies start to make sense for our international footprint. That’s how we’ve come to the launch of The Badoo Project, which is our first U.S. campaign.

Q: Explain The Badoo Project
A: To mark Badoo’s official U.S. launch, we’re holding a massive three-day photo shoot in New York to give people the ultimate online profile picture. Based on personality, energy and individuality, a final 24 will then get the chance to say hello to the city they love, by starring in a mixed media campaign, including billboards, banners and other media, across New York throughout the month of May. Judges will choose 22 finalists, and the final two will be crowned “People’s Choice” winners, voted for by the public with Facebook “likes.”

by Jacquelyn Smith
See full article at Forbes

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