Wakoopa - A social software tracking web service

Guest Post By Ildeniz Yagcioglu (E-mail / E-mail / Twitter)

I have been introduced to Wakoopa (odd name), a Dutch web 2.0 startup that is trying to turn software usage patterns into something social that somehow uniquely identifies you. What will social entrepreneurers they think of next?

I knew when I started blogging for TechWinter I would be bombarded with a diverse variety of small startups, some would be useful and others not so much. Wakoopa as odd as the brand sounds (and sounds) it offers an interesting web service, which tracks the software and games you use on your computer creating your own individual software profile.

This weekend, I registered to Wakoopa and had a brief look trying out the service. Now in all fairness I am a marketeer so it is probable that this site is not intended for my audience type but you be the judge as I lay down my experiences.

First you need to understand how Wakoopa works. Through a downloadable tracking application for your PC or Mac every software application you use and how long you use it is recorded and the information is gathered by Wakoopa’s servers.

The benefits? Your personal profile will display all of your software related usage data and will update automatically with any news, updates or reviews on each specific application. Small forums are created around individual applications and similar applications are listed below a tag cloud.

Alexa stats below show that their audience is relatively consistent in their Daily Reach but for a small startup this often means the service is struggling to even attract a significant following of early adopters after their initial launch frenzy (a colleagues word not mine). However, most of the company’s visitors turn out to be passers-by and regulars seem to be only 20% of the visits.

Quantcast stats show that this site reaches over 271K monthly uniques, of which 73,004 (27%) are in the U.S. The site is popular among a largely male audience. So, I may be right in my assumption that I am not part of Wakoopa’s target market, that it is probably ‘computer-oriented’ (age group) male market who prefer to use this service.

I have to say that I don’t find the benefit of being a member of this site in the long term for myself and as such will probably delete my account soon as I always try to avoid having accounts with sites which are not part of my daily life.

Would you use Wakoopa? If so what are the benefits it offers you? Does a web service that tracks software usage ever have a chance at a mainstream audience? Let me know your thoughts…