While positioning itself as a "natural evolution of existing social network and blogging sites", Badoo has an unusual business model, different from other advertising-led social sites, such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.

"We wanted to be advertising free in order to have a clean site so our users weren't subject to adverts which we know can be a turnoff," Neil Bryant, the managing director of Badoo said.

For $1 in the US, €1 in Europe's eurozone and £1 in the UK, Badoo users can have their profile moved to the top of a rolling list - in a blend of Digg and a Reuters ticker - that all users can see.

"With Badoo users don't have to add friends - they have immediate access to get their profile in front of the site's entire online community," added Bryant.

For security, users can block any "undesirable" or annoying profiles on their web page and also keep information confidential such as birth dates.

So far, Badoo has had presence in Latin American, as well as in European countries including France, Spain and Italy. The UK is a top priority market for Badoo next year.

“Badoo is also trying to carve a niche in the celebrity market, just as MySpace has in music and Bebo has with youth,” according to a MediaGuardian article.

"Badoo users love sharing information about themselves, their friends and celebrity so Badoo has decided that the quickest way to get the message out about the site is to get celebrities to spread and demonstrate the word," said Bryant.