Censorship of Badoo: What? When? Where?
General:
Badoo is an international dating social network that has been at the forefront of its niche market for many years. It reaches an audience of users from all over the world. The main office of the company is located in London, and it is registered in Cyprus. Badoo is one of the most successful European companies that has opened up an entirely new IT field.
Spain, Italy, France, and Latin America are the main fans of the service. According to statistics, in France, Badoo is ranked 52nd among the most popular sites. In the world ranking of the most visited sites, the platform is the 59th. In 2011, Badoo even surpassed CNN in popularity. At the moment, Badoo has about 500 million registered users.
Established:
The founder and ideological inspirer of the project is the Russian businessman Andrey Andreev. Several programmers participated in the service development, who had the most advanced technologies at that time, which helped create a simple and high-quality website. In November 2006, Badoo began its operation. In two years, it attracted a Russian investor, a company that invested $30 million in the service's promotion and development. The investor received 10% of Badoo shares, and a year later, it received 20% of shares.
According to statistics, Badoo had over 125 million active users in September 2011. For such a relatively short period of being in the international market, it was a colossal success.
Badoo is currently available in 40 languages and is supported on Android and iOS operating systems and platforms such as Facebook.
Features:
People nearby: A system similar to the FlightRadar24 app, which, instead of airplanes, allows you to scan the faces of people near you, find them on the service, and start chatting.
Search: The app is available in 190 countries worldwide, and you can meet anyone here. Users can see who is in the app in another city or another part of the world.
Video chat: The ability to go live, video chat, celebrity lookalike search function. Video chat allows users to connect in real-time after messaging and make sure the person matches the photo.
Free: The service is free, but it has a Premium subscription, allowing users to see who added them to Favorites or liked their profile. Also, if a user accidentally swiped through someone they liked, there is the opportunity to come back.
Countries where it is blocked:
Badoo is available in 190 countries worldwide, but there are countries where people still have no opportunity to flirt online.
Iran:
In December 2009, Badoo crossed the 50-million-users mark worldwide, 250,000 of which were from Iran. In early 2010, Badoo was blocked in Iran.
Perhaps because Badoo is a flirtation site and not a political one, it has angered strict Islamic authorities, but no official reason has been provided for its blocking.