In a world where venture capitalists throw millions at startups, social networking site Badoo is happy with a dollar/euro/pound at a time.
Conventional advertising as we know it from typical websites doesn’t have a place on Badoo, a social networking site readying a UK release in February.
If anyone wants to float to the top of the profiles on Badoo, no small feat considering its reportedly 12-million strong membership, it will cost the member a unit of currency: dollars in the US, the euro or pound where appropriate.
An AdAge report said Badoo may be anti-advertisements, but that doesn’t extend to its Rise Up program. If a marketer wants to be on top of the heap for a brief time, and has some kind of compelling content that could keep them in the minds of Badoo members, that dollar could be the key to success.
Through the Rise Up program, a participant hits a featured spot atop the search results for a brief period of time. That may sound irresistible to advertisers, but Badoo members can rate others, and a wayward marketer could pick up a low rating in a hurry.
But the prospect of reaching the younger demographic on Badoo should spur a marketer or two to attempt to create a compelling profile and some complementary content. In an online world where advertising is the norm, is Badoo’s scheme crazy like a fox, or just plain crazy.
Oh, we’re pretty sure the Jessica Alba profile is a fake.
