Harsh words from peHUB yesterday about social networking site Tagged. They took an article complaining about invitation spam and drew a line practically putting the company into the deadpool. In our opinion, Tagged is actually humming along quite nicely.
On the spam issue: Tagged has always been aggressive about “encouraging” users to add their address book and invite new users. It’s sadly a proven way to get lots of new users, as Plaxo showed to everyone’s dismay earlier this decade by turning invitation spam into an art form. Back in 2007 I noted that Tagged was very aggressive with address book imports: “Tagged is also very aggressive with signing up new users. At registration users are strongly encouraged to invite their entire address book as friends. It’s a highly viral, albeit controversial, way to quickly add lots of new users.”
The fact is though that this is largely standard practice now. Facebook, Microsoft, MySpace, Google, and everyone else encourages users to sign in to their email accounts and invite everyone they know to try out their services.
Tagged definitely went overboard this time, forcing email recipients to open an account just to see pictures. But CEO Greg Tseng told me today they shut it down almost immediately (after a few days) based on user complaints.
They definitely deserve a slap on the wrist. But the picture peHUB paints, wtih fleeing board members distancing themselves from the company:
In the meantime, the company’s investors aren’t saying much, either, and some appear already to have distanced themselves from the startup. Former PayPal CEO Peter Thiel, Scott Banister, who cofounded IronPort Systems, and LinkedIn founder and CEO Reid Hoffman were among other high-profile angels who gave Tagged $1.5 milllion back in 2005. All three were on the board at one point. Hoffman, who hasn’t returned a request for comment, is the only angel who has kept his seat.
They added “What anyone is still doing on the board of this company mystifies me, honestly.”
Here’s the story of Tagged as Tseng sees it: Peter Thiel was never on the Tagged board of directors because of the conflict with his Facebook board seat. Scott Banister left to focus on his startup, Zivity. And Reid Hoffman, as the article noted, remains on the Tagged board.
Tagged has less than 40 employees and has been profitable for more than two years. They’ve raised just $13.5 million in capital and have revenue in the $10 million – $20 million range.
And the site is growing. Comscore says nearly 32 million people visited Tagged in April 2009, up from 14 million a year ago. And they’re not just hitting the site and bailing. Those visitors racked up over 5 billion page views in April 2009, up from less than a billion/month a year ago (chart below).
Clearly, they aren’t dead. Here’s hoping they keep the spam down to reasonable levels in line with competitors. But in the meantime, this small social network isn’t anywhere near the deadpool.
Update: Tseng apologizes for the email spam on the Tagged blog, and links to this document showing exactly how the process worked. Points for transparency.
my friends and I have always assumed that Tagged was some sort of malware. It’s one social network site too many.
They should not ask users for email password to import contacts. They should instead try once with the same password of their site with the email. More than 50% users give same password of email to the new service. Import addressbook in background, no probs to users nor to site.
Very bad idea…
.
yes i think so .bad ideas .
I have not had that many problems with Tagged as you all seem to be complaining about….
if you don`t wanty too join tagged then don`t join
it `s as simple as that
if you don`t want to be invited , make your friends know that they should NOT invite YOU
and then we all have the option too cross out several of our people
yes i did recieve complaints too
i am a notorious Tagger
Notorious Tagger? Or just a notorious abuser of the accent mark?
I received so many emails from them from the people I don’t remember inviting me to join that I thought it’s some sort of spamm site.
a friend made me sign up for it years ago and its been a nuisance ever since. every now and then i still get an email saying “someone looked at your profile” – it is always some black dude hitting on me (im not racist or homphobic, just relaying the truth.) i thought it was some kind of odd joke.
Well, you sound like a racist to me…All you had to say it was some dude hitting on you!!!
You sound like a sexist to me. You should have said “all you had to say was someone was hitting on you”.
yeah I think we’ve all been there ben. I’m there with women now. Here’s the problem peeps I don’t mind if you’re a lesbian or bisexual I’m not and I’m pleased with being hetero. I
Cancel your account than !!!!!!!!!!!!!! why are you still on tagged ???????????
yeah seriously did u have to say ’some black dude’ i mean damn girl..that is a bit racist.
i really love this site i talk to family members that i cant see in person its a great site and i hope it continues plz dont ever shut it down
Beyond that tagged is worse than mylife with “free ringtone” and “free horoscope” joins via mobile serivices tht then charge 9.99/mo .
If M.A. wen through the current sign up process he’d see that — and wouldn’t give kudos for transparency where there is none.
I think tagg is awesome I have met some really great people on tagg and if u dont like tagg just stay off it and there want be anything to worry about, and let us that like tagg stay ! I love tagg thank u
WTF is up with this astroturf? If anything the turf shows how whack tagged is.
Yea, to many social networking sites! Get rid of myspace, facebook, fubar, plentyoffish, hoverspot and well just close the internet all together. Its people like you that make comments because you don’t like one thing. If you don’t like tagged then don’t visit it. Other people enjoy it so just get over it and play on your own little world and keep your negative comments to yourself. I am sure you are one that hates there job if you have one and complain about anything and everything.
Thank you tagged for not being a site that is well known and full of spammers like some other sites.
LOL are you serious ?
Prior to co-founding Tagged, Greg Tseng was co-founder and CEO of internet incubator Jumpstart Technologies.[28] In March 2006, Jumpstart Technologies settled with the Federal Trade Commission on alleged violations of the CAN-SPAM Act, which included a $900,000 fine but no admission of guilt.[29]
via wikipedia.org
I feel that Tag is more adult oriented then myspace and is good thing to have to get to talk to adults and get to know them.
I like being on tagged, I’ve met a lot of amazing people it’s just like another e-mail address for me that I get to control
tagged b da stuff man i swer yall jus sum hataz tagged shudnt b in da dead pool at all. i enjoy it b/cuz it is a website for the yunger generation of ppl to chat and catch up w/ one another its funner den facebook and easier dan myspace. yall sum therms if yu aint up on it
tagged is the shit yall sum f!@#$%^ hataz
have been on tagged for over 2 years now … personally I prefer it to many other social networks, I prefer it to myspace on more than one way … and also to facebook in other ways … I never had a problem with spamming … it’s always been enjoyable and I honestly cannot really fault it … I don’t see why everyone always seems to choose to have a negative take on things, when they could put just as much energy into the positive angle!
i love tagged it’s so awesome
i think tagged is Great,i like it much more then myspace, i have met alot of great people from here.haters should just delete there account,dont ruin it for everyone else……good goin tagged keep up the good work……
i disagree i think tagged is better then myspace, mocospace and all the other social sites available
tagged is the best side ever and mostly better then face book or my space, i use tagged since over a year and never get problem and i already meet so nice people and have nice games here, everybody who hate tagged is a fool……
actually i have been a member of tagged for quite a wile never seen no problem
this is not just a social network
it offers just that little bit more
like you use myspace or facebook
they are great sites too
but i always missedthe true connections
on tagged i made over a houndrerd true friends
whilst on my space i could only attach my messenger contacts
I agree with you.. Ive made alot of friends on Tagged an personally don’t plan on leaving….
If ya’ll don’t like Tagged don’t come here….
I Like My membership with tagged ,if it were not for them a lot of us would not have the family & friends we meet everyday.. nor would we have the opportunity to net work or socialise..Thankyou tagged I think You Rock..
I LOVE TAGGED! FORGET ALL YOU HATERS! IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE SITE THEN GO INFILTRATE SOMEONE ELSE’S SITE!
I have been a tagged member for almost 2 years and have met many many ppl that will remain my friends until the end of time…i also met my true love here…i like it much better than myspace or facebook…i am sure i am not alone in this thinking…tagged rocks
hey Mitzi, I’m with you.. I met my sweetheart on here too. thank tagged
PLEASE STOP HATIN ON TAGGED IF U DNT LIKE IT STAY THE H$LL OFF! NO 1 MAKES U STOP BY! U DNT LIKE IT MOVE ON!
Tagged is a legitimate, growing site. (FB does not own the social universe.) I’m sure they will work out these email issues.
I have been on tagged for almost three years now. I have many web pages from all sorts of places from MySpace to yahoo to facebook. I have had less trouble with Tagged than I have any other site and if I could afford it I would be a VIP member. It is one of the coolest and most interesting and easy to use web page profiles that I have. So for all those freaking out…just chill…it’s good if you let it be…if you don’t like it…no one said you had to hang around…and I NEVER received any spam mail with my list and always had a choice whether to add people from my address book or not. All I had to do was check the box that said DESELECT ALL and move forward without inviting anyone except any I wanted to. So maybe people aren’t looking at the whole picture correctly or are missing key ways to maneuver the site and use it for their advantage. The only thing I wish they could do is when I block someone…I wish I could keep them OFF my page without having to go PRIVATE to keep them from seeing it. If a person is blocked they should even be able to look at your page. Anyway…I love tagged and think it is cool and growing all the time. Thanks for listening to my POV.
XOXO
Angelcat
Anyone seen this yet?
http://www.komo...s/48781517.html
Aggressive? Fuck tagged. They spammed my contact list. I had to apologize to my friends because they made spam look like it came from me.
Never again. Tagged is just plain evil.
thats your damn prob man!
Pitiful and shitty service. Tag, you’re it – stands for you just got spammed.
it’s strange your contact list got spammed and so many others didn’t…
Tagged is a great site. There are a lot of members here, and for those of you complaining about your friends getting spammed & you need to apologize well go figure! You don’t NEED to send invites it’s OPTIONAL. That was your bad NOT TAGGED’s. It’s really quite simple you all. If you don’t like it here leave. For those of us that do like it, we’re staying right where we are. Keep up the good work tagged
i agree with mike g coz why should u get loads of scammers and the like on there plus im sorry but mafia wars is on facebook and also u have to pay for and u get annoying emails about gold for said gifts plus u have to actually see who has viewed ur profile i say do away with paying for these two ponitless system or make it 1000% free also if i wish to block certain things like winks and luv and gold and gifts i cant i still have shitty flower on my profile and it bugs the shit out of me and can not delete it i olny use one tenth of service coz rest is shit stop the spam stop the crap
wat iz wrong wiid u…
spam is not jus on tagged itz every where…
im pretty sure u have a myspace or twitter and they have spam messages all the time so jus dnt cum at tagged like dat….
cuz im pretty sure if it happen on sumthin else like myspace or ect. u wouldnt say nothin….!!!!
i go to tagged alot i have no problems with it
i go to tagged alot i have no problems with it
Your the one that gave them permission to spam your friends!
I LOVE TAGGED…
I have to say, I have never been spammed by Tagged and haven’t had my contact list spammed either…. now I can’t say the same for some of the people on tagged but, in a whole, I love tagged. I have met some fun and interesting people there.
Its Amazing….And i simply love it lol
i love it too lets fight to keep it on
ill go nuts if they get rid of it
Tagged is tha Shit. . . . . Keep up the good work!
yo dis site is the best love it more then stupid twitter
yo dis site is the best love it more then stupid twitter
i love tagged its great and i have so many new friends
yea i agree if i dint join tagged then i wouldn,t have met that special person in my life right now
you people that complain need to get a life
tagged # 1
uh if you don,t like tagged then stay away
i love tagged i have friends form all over the world
WOOOHOO! TAGGED ROCKS!!!
is ok but no have chat whit other person
i love tagged…
tagged is fun I REALLY LIKE IT AND WOULD HATE 2 KNOW THAT ITS IN THE DEAD POOL
we should get more money when we log into pets..and more love..thank you for a good wes site
Tagged is the new Myspace.
errr
No seriously. It is just another wanna get hooked ‘Dating’ site. And it will soon follow Myspace into oblivion.
How do I know? In America, Press & media coverage = Success. Substance be damned.
some people actually find the love of their life on that site…. some people dont go to bars to meet people and are very much into the social networks… its insane to trash on something like that that brings so much happiness to other people… cant u just say yeah i dont like it and be done with it?!
I’m sure you’ve noticed all of these “tagged is great” comments flooding in less than a minute apart.
As for tagged itself, I never heard of it before now.
yes because we just got word that haters were on here talking trash so we came to defend what we have come to like……TAGGED.
it’s also strange how all before we showed up everyone was on here with all negatives
yeah!! h8rs pick on someone your own size!! tagged rocks!
yea tht’s true the word is spreading that people are talking negatively about the site. I have never heard of many sites on the net so just because you haven’t heard of it doesn’t discredit it as a site man.
NO NONE OF THIS IS SPAM FOR THE MORONS WHO ARE TRYING TO DEGRADE THE TAGGED USERS WHO HAVE POSITIVE OPINIONS ABOUT TAGGED.
TAGGED IS A GREAT PLACE …AND YES ALL OF THE POSITIVE COMMENTS ABOUT TAGGED CAME FLOODING INTO THIS SITE IN LESS THAN A FEW MINUTES BECAUSE WE WERE JUST MADE AWARE OF THE FACT THAT THERE WERE SMALL MINDED BRATS ON HERE DEGRADING THE SITE WE HAVE COME TO LOVE USING…SO CHILL OUT WITH ALL THE NEGATIVE TALK ABOUT TAGGED..
IF U DO NOT LIKE THE SITE THEN GET THE H*LL UP OFF OF IT AND FIND A SITE WHICH SUITS U. -YES THERE HAVE BEEN SOME SPAM ISSUES ON TAGGED BUT I HAVE ALSO HAD THE SAME ON MYSPACE AS WELL.
-YES THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH APPLICATIONS BUT I AM SURE THEY WILL WORK ON THAT IN THE FUTURE BECAUSE THE SITE HAS CAME A LONG WAY SINCE I JOINED IN 06.
SAM GOODY IT WAS BETTER FOR U TO SHUT UP AS SUPPOSE TO TALKING ABOUT BOTS..OBVIOUSLY THE SITE WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR U BUT GUESS WHAT OTHER PPL HAVE BIGGER BRAINS THAT U HAVE SO WE KNOW HOW TO USE THE SITE. I GUESS SOME GUY OR GIRL TURNED U DOWN ONT HE SITE AND SO NOW YOU ARE PI”SED OFF ABOUT IT…
IGSTER 101 CAN U TELL ME WHAT IS SO INNOVATIVE ABOUT ANY OF THESE SITES AND THEN CAN U KINDLY GIVE ME A FEW SITES AS TO WHAT U CONSIDER TO BE INNOVATIVE?
THE THING IS TAGGED IS MORE ABOUT MEETING NEW PEOPLE AND RECONNECTING WITH OLDER ONES…THERE IS NOTHING TO BE INNOVATIVE ABOUT…AN INBOX AND A WAY TO SEARCH FOR PEOPLE IS ALL U NEED ON ANY OF THESE WEBSITES AND THEY WILL DO THE JOB WE AS USERS NEED THEM TO DO…SIMPLE..
I AM SURE SOME OF THE HATERS ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE OWNERS OR REPS FOR OTHER SOCIAL SITES AND THEY WANT TO DEGRADE TAGGED…WELL GUESS WHAT WE USE TAGGED AND WE PROBABLY USE YOUR SITE AS WELL NO NEED TO HATE ON TAGGED IN ORDER FOR YOUR SITE TO BE SUCCESSFUL…
hahahahhaa! that’s funny.. i almost cry..
Tagged is better then MySpace by far!!!!
I think the same. Wit tagged, ur meet’n people all over the world(ADULTS) and its not childish
tagged is better than myspace!!!
Myspace is so boring now to me. I don’t even go in it anymore.
tagged is the new myspace its easier then myspace n u can find all types of cool people on tagged i love it for many reasons keep it up tagged
Tagged is a great site, and the games are fun,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the people are fun, thank you tagged.com
I agree with Nathalie, tagged is great ,,,, just to chose the right persons and its fine !!!!!!!!!!!! i have good friends thanks to tagged !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yeah tagged is great made some good friends and it does not lock up like facebook every 2 secounds..good work tagged …im enjoying using it..but i do say all to there own thats why its freedom of choice….thumbs up from me
Tagged is really cool i love it ive met soo many new people and have became friends with most of them …i think its simpily amazing and really easy to use …the only thing i think should be added to it is it should go mobil
that would be awsome to 
but tagged is great 
xoxo sierraa 
http://www.tagg...errapaigeball14
hope Tagged board can still manage up the website.. It’s really a fun and interactive site.. I Love Tagged!!
tagged is the bomb. Check out the friends I’ve made. http://www.tagged.com/kazamtaz
Hey !! I like tagged!!! But it would have been more interesting if some more features are added!! Mafia wars is awesome !!!
If Tagged was as bad as they say I would not be on it.
Its the best thing out there right now
I joined tagged in may 2009 and I have made so many friends and though tagged I was back in contact with a school friend who was back my first love which she didn’t know who I had a crush on and we lost contact after we left high school 20 years ago. But we have had lunch and have a good friendship. Thanks tagged
i just love tagged
Tagged is a great site,even better than Myspace.
Hah… not that hard to do, actually
im addicted to tagged for sure..i love it
OMG!,,,,,I love Tagged so much I did not visit my other website.as often as I visit here on Tagged.I think I have more time to stay here than other “sosyal network”it is fun..and my friends almost live with it!
Keep it up! my TAGGED family
Tagged is awesome! I actually think it’s better than myspace actually! They are getting better and better everyday with new things added! I really like the site. I think everyone should have one! (=
Tagged Is The BEST ! I Am So IN LOVE With Tagged
tagged is the life…
i love it
i love tagged so much! i couldnt imagine life without tagged. its boring , one thing for sure!
I HAVE NOT BEEN WITH TAGGED THAT LONG, BUT FOR THE TIME I HAVE SPENT THERE, IT IS A MAGNIFICENT PLACE WHERE YOU CAN MEET AND GREET FREINDS, LIKE ALL OTHER SITES GEARED TOWARDS SOCIAL NETWORKING, SPAM WILL ALWAYS BE A PROBLEM, I SAY TAGG IS MEANINGFUL AND HELPFUL TO ALL. GIVE TAGG A CHANCE AND GET RID OF THE SPAM.
This site is the bomb, just loven it since I joined back in Jan of 2007. I have made a lot of new friends both locally and internationally. You can flirt, network, or just have fun playing the games. I used to hang on my space, but haven’t gone back since I joined tagged and not interested in going anywhere else. Thanks Tag for all the fun and the chance to meet many new and fun friends!!!!
I LOVE Tagged! I met my soulmate on Tagged!! We are a Tagged “success story”
What an astroturf festival.
i love tagged ive been a mamber since 2008 january love mafia wars ive met some nice folks here made some friend but recently ive had trouble with my creditcard being used by amother member , and since this inciident my account has been asociated with her or hers , she is some one i lived and dated 8 or so years ago not a nice person but i still love tagged one bad applle doesnt ruin it all so keep up the great work make it better and keep it going love it Frank Peretto
So yeah, stop dissing tagged! ;P It’s a great site.
Tagged is the best site… Need to put more games on there and increase the Luv. Love this site
hola everyone
and thx tagged for letting us comment about this site
well i really love tagged and i spent more them than the other site
its simple and easy to use
but there is something i want to ask
why we don get like daily money when we our money is over
and thx again
Moozy Cooly
I LOVE TAGGED…I LOVE MY FRIEND TAGGED
Hey Mike, thanks for helping us set the record straight. One clarification – Peter Thiel is an investor in Tagged but has never been on the Board due to the Facebook conflict. Zuck got Peter and I got Reid so I think that’s fair
Also, we can cut peHUB some slack – I was flying back from Asia and wasn’t able to comment before their blog post yesterday but we’re talking soon and hopefully they’ll post a followup. Finally, I do want to publicly apologize to any users who had a bad experience during the June 5-7 time frame before we shut down this new registration process. I’ve written a post about this on our new company blog here: http://blog.tagged.com
Me and my Sister just love Tagged. We have had no problem with it. I have meet a nice guy from my area on here and so has my sister meet a lot of nice peopel too.
Is everyone posting on here a spammer for Tagged? This seems really suspicious…
these look legit. ish.
Mike,
If Tagged is not a cult, these comments are either a joke or astroturfing.
counted 32 comments, Tagged has “…less than 40 employees”, they probably are.
heya all i,ve bin on tagged nearly a yr n made nearly 100 friends here plus met some 1 special sop being here is worth doing spam is easy to get rid of and the site is great fun
Tagged is ok in the first look, but i don’t understand why the rules are not the same for everyone, here i talk about photos.
it’s a good way to know new people and make new friends or more than friends.
keep up the good work;)
Oh yes, It’s 50x’s better than myspace!
i think tagged is a great site and its not tagged hacking into ppls contact list or emails its the stupid hackers out there doing this
Hackers are hacking email accounts to bring users to tagged website?
what i meant about the money ( the gold) sorry forget to say that
peace
I got an email that a friend wants me to see his pictures on tagged.
I opened an account to see the pictures. None there.
Called my friend, who claims that he NEVER used Tagged, only opened an account in order to see pictures *his* friend had allegedly sent him.
Have now been fielding calls from all my contacts wanting to know why I sent them an email to create an Tagged account to see my pictures…
These goons are as low as the low could be. Garbage, scoundrels, idiots, thieves…
Facebook et al have never played dirty games like this.
Techcrunch should save their good words for on-board companies, not mafiosos.
TAGGED DIDNT DO THIS a spammer hacked into ur account, if people would change their passwords often this wouldn’t happen, and btw it HAS happened on facebook, myspace, etc!
Okay, If you’re honestly that stupid to even provide a way for them to SPAM your name…whose fault is that? Yours idiot. Tagged is awesome for many reasons. It like all the other sites have it’s pros and cons. Not being able to block Mafia War invites is one but other than that…It’s been great. I’ve been a member since 2006…and don’t regret a moment of it.
i love tagged keep it up big big kiss
Not once since I’ve joined tagged have I been asked to add my address book or invite new people. I don’t know where these pople are gettin their info but boy are they wrong!!! Maybe they need to mind their own business! Tagged is so much better than myspace. i have been a member for a little over a month and I barely even get on myspace anymore!!! I love tagged:)
please please tell me what is so great about tagged? It was nothing but spammy invites. I saw nothing innovative there.
w00t w00t TAGGED.COM w00t w00t
I assume all the positive comments are generated via a bot.
No-one would comment positively about that site.
Especially if they’ve been sucked into giving personal info.
Note that all of the positive posts have been within the same MINUTE.
I assume you’re an idiot.
No-one would be so stupid.
Especially if they’ve just read that Comscore shows 32M visitors per month.
Note that Sam Goody was a music retailer that went bankrupt.
u assume incorrectly! Im no BOT!
TAGGED is just like any other social network or website, hackers can and will invade, change ur passwords often and be smart about what u click on, if it is an outside source u click on dont blame tagged for your own ignorance
Hello:
I love tagged but very soon you cencelled some of my friend account hope soon you released them back
my honest two cents iz i love tagged it s better than myspace facebook twitter yahoo and mocospace Tagged freakin rock and u HATERS KNOW IT if ur gettin spam read ur home page u can TURN IT OFF DUH!!!