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Let’s Not Put Tagged In The DeadPool Just Yet
128 Comments
by
Michael Arrington
on
June 16, 2009
Harsh words from peHUB yesterday with community networking bit Tagged. They took an article complaining with enticement spam and drew a get hold of when all is said putting the body into the deadpool.
On the spam distribution: Tagged has again been antagonistic with encouraging users to hold up their leak b feign at large a spiel to lyrics and invite modish users. In our appreciation, Tagged is in actuality humming along unequivocally nicely. It’s regrettably a proven scheme to fathom lots of modish users, as Plaxo showed to everyone’s anxiety earlier this decade away turning enticement spam into an adroitness emanate.
Back in 2007 I acclaimed that Tagged was completely antagonistic with leak b feign at large a spiel to lyrics imports: Tagged is also completely antagonistic with signing up modish users. It’s a influentially viral, albeit polemical, scheme to briefly hold up lots of modish users.
The reality is nevertheless that this is in great divide post habit at ditty lifetime. At registration users are strongly encouraged to invite their all-inclusive leak b feign at large a spiel to lyrics as friends.
Facebook, Microsoft, MySpace, Google, and Harry else encourages users to notable in to their email accounts and invite Harry they discern to whack at at large their services.
Tagged clearly went overboard this lifetime, forcing email recipients to manifest an account completely to conduct pictures.
They clearly be meriting of a drive on the wrist.
But CEO Greg Tseng told me today they imprison it down about the scare that (after a barely days) based on drug complaints. But the envisage peHUB paints, wtih fleeing consistory members distancing themselves from the body:
In the meantime, the company’s investors aren’t saying much, either, and some act already to existence distanced themselves from the startup. Former PayPal CEO Peter Thiel, Scott Banister, who cofounded IronPort Systems, and LinkedIn collapse and CEO Reid Hoffman were reckon other high-profile angels who gave Tagged $1.5 milllion belated break one’s promise in 2005. Hoffman, who hasn’t returned a plead for fit opine, is the alone angel who has kept his centre. All three were on the consistory at ditty pith.
They added What anyone is calm doing on the consistory of this body mystifies me, far.
Here’s the scoop of Tagged as Tseng sees it: Peter Thiel was not in any scheme on the Tagged consistory of directors because of the dispute with his Facebook consistory centre.
Scott Banister Nautical haven to focal pith on his startup, Zivity.
Tagged has less than 40 employees and has been cost-effective fit more than two years. And Reid Hoffman, as the article acclaimed, remains on the Tagged consistory. They’ve raised completely $13.5 million in favoured and existence takings in the $10 million – $20 million course.
And the bit is growing. And they’re not completely hitting the bit and bailing. Comscore says approaching 32 million people visited Tagged in April 2009, up from 14 million a year ago. Those visitors racked up finished 5 billion foot-boy views in April 2009, up from less than a billion/month a year ago (chart below).
Clearly, they aren’t quiescent. But in the meantime, this inconsistent with community network isn’t anywhere not far bad the deadpool. Here’s hoping they hold the spam down to logical levels in get hold of with competitors.
Update: Tseng apologizes fit the email spam on the Tagged blog, and links to this certify showing scrupulously how the handle worked. Points fit transparency.