This is big: Wakoopa tracks web apps (but not YouPorn)
Written on 9th October 2008
11 COMMENTS 
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
You’ve probably heard of Wakoopa before, it is one of those names that make you think… What??? WaWhat? But afterwards you’ll remember it. It gets more tough when you have to explain what they do. Up until now Wakoopa has been a popular tool for the more technical gifted among us (formerly known as nerds) who use the service to track their software usage and to discover new software and games. Now Wakoopa broadens its audience to all web savvies by tracking web apps.
Should you buy that pro account or not?
The trend of desktop software finding web equivalents has started some years ago, and really catched on the last couple of months. The “Cloud” has become Buzzword no.1. Therefore it’s the obvious move for Wakoopa.
Let’s take a closer look at what this means. First of all, you’ll get insight in your own usage of several services. Are you as much on Twitter as you say you are? Should you buy a Flickr pro account? What is the social network you use the most? Wakoopa knows.
Transparency in the web app market
But wait, there’s more! If Wakoopa is able to get a critical mass, it will reflect the pulse of all popular and unpopular web apps. Nowadays, VC’s, journalists, and bloggers depend on the press releases of startups and crappy Alexa ratings to get an idea of how popular a service is. Wakoopa could be the ultimate resource to discover new hot web apps (and the ones that are heading straight for the deadpool).
Recommendation Engine
Furthermore, Wakoopa is working on an improved version of their recommendation engine. They’ve hired two recommendation experts to get this done. According to founder Wouter Broekhof the engine is already in the testing phase. With the new data flowing in from web apps they will be able to give personalized recommendation on the use of your software, for desktop as well as web applications.
Are they tracking porn sites as well?
A friend of mine recently admitted to only use Safari to fulfill his online adult needs. He also uses Wakoopa…, you do the math. When I heard Wakoopa started tracking web apps, I realized privacy-related issues would become even more relevant. Especially since your Wakoopa profile page shows up high in the search results. How do we know Wakoopa doesn’t track sites or web apps we rather keep private?
Well, to ease your mind: Wakoopa Lead Developer Menno van der Sman told me Wakoopa only tracks tools that are mentioned in Crunchbase, and they filtered out sites like YouPorn.
Disclosure: Wakoopa is our sponsor
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[...] 10, 2008 by frekje The next web reports that Wakoopa is now also extending their tracking to inlcude the use of web services. If [...]