Is Badoo a Good Dating Site? – A Comprehensive, Honest Badoo Review
Badoo is a dating-oriented social networking service established in 2006 in London. According to Alexa.com, it is the 369th most popular website in the world as of May 2016, with most of its users coming from France, Brazil, and Russia. Badoo was introduced in the United States in early 2012 and immediately signed a marketing agreement with the site Hot or Not to display pictures of its members.
That said, what should you expect with this website? Is it any better than other dating sites out there? Below is a comprehensive Badoo review and how it fairs when pitted against other sites operating on the same concept.
Badoo Dating Site’s Features
For starters, Badoo is a freemium service meaning that even though its free to join, you have to pay to access premium features. Upon creating an account, you can chat and upload photos as well as videos. As a free member, you can also view and get in touch with individuals within your locality using the “People Nearby” feature or in a different part of the world through the “Search” feature.
Encounters – This is another free feature that allows you to click yes or no on other people’s photos, and when a match is found, the two individuals are notified. It also lets you customize your search for more distinct traits such as body type, kids, education and star sign. Encounters will give you access to photos of “good-looking” individuals whose characters in line with what you’re looking for as well. You can make the most out of this feature by editing your search criteria and swiping through the photos to see who may get interested in.
With a premium account, you will have access to the following features:
Badoo Super Powers – This feature enables users to get noticed more quickly. The super powers also make it easy to view individuals who would like to meet you, those who admire you the most as well as those who have added you to their “favorites” list. It also promotes your messages and allows you to engage with popular users via chat.
Badoo offers super powers in four packages and gives a one-time chance to try your package before buying. After the trial super powers are depleted, you can buy additional powers using a credit card, or via PayPal.
Rise Up / Spotlight – Just like the super powers these features are meant to increase your visibility and attraction. With Rise Up, your profile is given more priority on the search button for people in your area to find it quickly. The Spotlight feature, on the other hand, shows your picture on the site’s front page so that anyone in your area can see it.
Secret Comments – Described as “anonymous, girls only” this feature enables women to leave comments on the men they’ve had a chat with.
Pros
- Unlike most dating websites, Badoo lets you know which of your friends are on the site before creating an account. This enables users to make a more accurate judgment on whether or not they should join the network.
- Badoo performs well as far as helping you connect with people in your vecinity is concerned. The advanced filters enable you to select a range of ages and distances from where you reside, thereby giving you more control on who to connect with.
Cons
- New users are bombarded with messages from people all over the globe upon signing up. This gives the illusion that Badoo is more focused on chatting with strangers other than helping users create a personal network of friends.
- Badoo will let you block other users alright, but there have been complaints that incidences of abuse are not addressed swiftly. Also, the site’s reputation has been damaged due to the rising number of fake accounts using current member’s photos and information. Unfortunately, the company has done very little to prevent this from happening.
Verdict
If users’ ratings in the last 12 months are anything to go by, the Badoo dating site leaves a lot to be desired. Most people feel that Badoo is nothing more than a chat room and a picture rating site. However, make no mistake about it; the website has a massive number of users, especially in South America. If you’re in the quest for a dating social networking site, this one has just about every feature you need to stay happy. If not, you can always use Tinder to get a quick date.
