OPW INTERVIEW - Sep 8 - Mamba.ru is Russia's top dating site. They've turned their hand to social dating with their international social dating site Mamboo. Here's our interview with the COO, Gloria Diez. - Mark Brooks
How was Mamboo started?
We already had a sister service, Mamba.ru which is very popular in Russia since 2004. We have the only dating system in the world that keeps users 30 min online per visit. People from other countries contacted us asking for a similar service in their country. We decided it would be a good idea to create an international site.
You define it as social dating site. What is a social dating site? How is it different from an Internet dating site?
I define social dating as any kind of system that allows the members to meet up with other people in a social atmosphere. We like to provide our users with the chance to meet their other half from among the network of friends they have. To find someone who belongs to the same peer/reference group as them and has the same social values. Social aspects are very influential in real life dating so we had to repeat that online.
How do you protect privacy at Mamboo?
We understand users have to feel relaxed to meet new people. We give users options to set up their privacy. They disclose information that they are fine with. We never share our resource data with any 3rd party. 90% of our users confirm they are real people. They send us a message after we send a code to their cell phone so we know its an actual person.
How many active members do you have on Mamboo?
We have 300,000 users. We are growing fast adding 2,000 members a day.
OPW Editor Update: Mamboo is now claiming ~10,000 new members a day.
Are you advertising?
We are starting to advertise. We are also beginning to become incorporated with subscription dating sites. We want to offer a different kind of dating to their users. We have also incorporated our services as a white label provider with other kind of websites such as ICQ.
Mamboo is mostly free; tell us about what you charge for?
Mambo is a free dating site but we do offer other extra premium services such as gifts as part of our upgraded service to help grab the attention of someone who you specially like.
There are a few social dating services but there is one that you have a special interest in, in fact you share an investor, Badoo. How is Mamboo different from Badoo?
The main difference is the social aspect. Badoo is a social network for meeting new people. Mamboo is an online dating service. Mamboo mission is to spread love around the world.
