Badoo is a dating website that has been in the market for many years. At times it was trendy, and at other times it was pretty much forgotten. Right now, it is still active, and its interface has seen some improvements. Then the question is raised; is this website worth anyone’s time? Before answering this through the whole review, below, you can see a shortlist of the site’s main strengths and weaknesses.
How Does It Work?
Badoo was created back in 2006 by the Russian businessman Andrey Andreev. Between 2006 and 2012, it was popular because of its quizzes and games on Facebook. Only after this period Badoo finally became a full site of its own. In the first years, the site saw some success in some countries.
Even though the site is heavily focused on dating features, it sells itself as a social media network. Still, most people surely see it as a dating website. After all, many only create an account at the site to look for partners. It is entirely possible to make friends on the site, but then people use Twitter or Facebook for that (or VK in Russia, etc.)
Most users on the site are young, so if you are older and want to try the site, do not expect to find many people of your age. The whole design and functionalities of the site were developed in a way to attract new young users.
Signing Up and Login
To register on Badoo, you have many options: sign in with Facebook, Google, VK, Odnoklassniki, Yandex, or Mail.Ru.
After selecting one of these options, you will be asked to enter a bit of information about yourself:
- Birthday
- City
- Gender
After filling the required info, you will need to upload photos or import from Facebook or Instagram. You can’t skip this step and create an account with no pictures on it. Adding photos of yourself is essential because of the picture rating feature. You need to upload at least three images, and then people will be able to see and rate them.
As a verification step, Badoo asks members to take a picture executing some specific gestures. This helps to block fake profiles.
When you are logged off and need to log back in, you can click at “sign-in” at the top of the site and enter with your details.
Profiles on the Site
Some time ago, there were complaints about many profiles being fake. Some people would register and immediately get messages from other users (especially men would get messages from girls). Now, this seems to be fixed, since the verification process asks to access your camera and register you making some random gesture.
One thing the site lacks is the presence of more in-depth profiles. It does not give members a lot of options for them to express who they are. Profiles are generic, but at least they look polished because of Badoo’s design.
When you visit another member’s profile, you will see their pictures and two buttons; a heart for “like” and the “x” for “dismiss.” When someone likes you back, you will receive the “match” notification. Right at the side of these buttons, you see the user’s name and their age.
People usually tell whether they are looking for friends, chatting, dating, or hookups. Then, below, you can see their interests in music, movies, books, activities, etc. There is even one more tab where you can see drinking and smoking habits, religious beliefs, sexual preferences, etc.
Remember that when you register on Badoo, anyone can see your profile. Profiles are public, so even non-users can see your pictures and details about you. So, this is not the kind of site where you can post sexy pictures.
Matching and Communicating
Badoo has incorporated the Tinder-like matching system. You can visit someone’s profile and like them or click on the “x” so they will not show up for you again on the search feature.
Chatting with someone is very easy. You do not even need to match; you simply need to start a conversation through the instant messenger system. It is free for use to all members.
Members on the Site
There are about 12 million users on Badoo. Only 400,000 of them are registered in the USA. According to data, most members are from European countries. Still, there are many users on other continents as well. To be sure, there are a lot of Brazilian users, for example. The app was pretty popular in the country when it first launched and seems to be still.
There are more male users than females on the site. Recently, it seems that fake female profiles started being created to take advantage of this and entice male users. It is unknown whether this practice continues, but fake profiles were not found as far as it was tested during this review. Perhaps the occurrence of bogus profiles depends on the country you live in.
Age of Users
There are members of all age ranges on the site. Still, the most expressive age range is of young adults. There are many young men and women on the site that are still in their twenties.
Sexual Preferences
When you register at Badoo, you can choose whether you are looking for men, women, or both. This is an outstanding feature since there are many sites still today that only accept straight or gay users. Badoo offers a place for bisexual people.
Race and Ethnicity
Since Badoo is available worldwide, there are people of all races and ethnicities on it. When you start looking for potential partners, you can see a great variety of people.
Religious Orientation
Although Badoo is not focused on dating for religious people, you can still fill out information concerning your religious beliefs or lack of them. If that matters to you, you will also be able to see if other people are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc.
Badoo Features
Even though Badoo claims itself not to be a dating website but a social media network, all of its features are designed to help members find partners. The website is genuinely focused on dating, but know this: it is casual dating and hookups. Most members are not looking for serious relationships.
See what features the site offers:
- Badoo Encounters: This one was specially designed to help members find matches more quickly.
- Profile Score: Other members can rate your pictures. If you have high rates, you end up appearing first in the search results of other members. In the end, gorgeous users are the ones with the best chances in this site.
- Lookalikes: This feature helps you with finding users whose appearance resembles that of someone on the site you think is truly beautiful.
- Who viewed you: With this feature, you can grasp how popular your profile is. Sometimes it indicates that your profile is good or that you should work on it a bit more.
- Likes: This tool is handy since it lets you see who liked you, and you can chase after them. This helps to make matches happen quicker.
- Send gifts: You can buy and send gifts to other members through Badoo.
Safety and Security
Badoo presents a very rigid verification system when you first register. Because of such procedures, it is safe to say that the site truly cares for its users’ safety. As far as the website was tested for this review, no fake profiles were found. This shows that Badoo’s thorough verification is successful in blocking scammers.
The site has plenty of information about safety. You can find its FAQ pretty easily and read everything about the platform. Badoo also offers a guide to online safety so that members who are new to dating sites can know what to expect, how to behave, and how to protect themselves.
Is Badoo Legit?
Yes, Badoo is entirely legit. You can register quickly and check it yourself. There are plenty of users on the site looking for partners. If you look closely at profiles, you can see that real people were filled out and not just bots or scammers.
Types of Subscriptions
Badoo offers its members two types of subscriptions. You can remain a free user and have access to all main features, or upgrade and get access to features that help with dating but aren’t completely necessary.
Free Membership
Unlike the vast majority of dating sites, Badoo does not require you to pay for a premium membership to access the chat feature. This feature is a given once you register and verify your profile.
Some features are exclusive for paying members, and still, a free membership grants you access to everything that truly matters.
Paid Membership
A paid membership on Badoo unlocks you some features that might change the dynamics of meeting other people. This membership might make finding a partner quicker, but it is not truly necessary if you are not that desperate or have enough patience.
Features unlocked through the paid membership on Badoo include:
- Viewers who liked you
- Top your messages
- See who marked you as a favorite
- Undo your vote on Encounters
- Anonymous mode
- See when there are new users
- Appear as a featured member
- Send Crush alerts
- Put up your popularity
- Send gifts
- Chat stickers
Becoming a premium member costs:
- 1 month – $12,99
- 3 months – $31,99
- 6 months – $47,99
Design and Usability
As a dating site, Badoo presents one of the best designs, and along with it, has great usability. Its design is very polished and looks modern. Everything can be found easily by all members, making usability terrific.
Mobile App
Badoo focuses on dating for young adults, and as such, offers them a mobile app that is available both for iOS and Android. The app looks as sharp as the site. Since the site is well designed and looks modern, there are no big differences between the two. You will have a similar experience on the app, with the major outcome that it is more convenient.
The convenience of the app happens because the site and the app are designed similarly. You can look at the site’s design and tell right away that it was developed to look like a mobile app. Then, when you access the app, you get the true experience that Badoo wants to deliver.
Sometimes you might get errors like being unable to send messages. When those happen, you should report them. Normally, to fix such errors, you need to close the app and open it again.
Contact Information
Company: Badoo Training Limited
Address: The Broadgate Tower Third Floor, 20 Primrose Street, London, EC2A 2RS United Kingdom
Phone: no info
Email: [email protected]
Conclusion
Badoo is one of the largest social media networks on the planet, and they are entirely worth anyone’s time to seek dating partners. Unlike many other dating platforms that require you to pay to use the essential features, Badoo offers them right away and counts on you staying on the site. This site stands halfway between serious relationships sites and sexual encounters ones. You might find both on it, but you never honestly know what someone wants until you get to talk to them. Anyway, if you are looking for real people and are tired of scam sites, give Badoo a try.
