Our Grade – X
This service was shut down following legal action from Facebook/Instagram.
At a Glance
SocialEnvy was a New-Zealand-based company under the umbrella of Social Series Limited. It was among the most popular service providers in its day.
The owners spent a lot of money on Instagram and Facebook ads. It is estimated that their companies generated over $10,000,000 in unjust profits as a result of their activity. If you were in the social media marketing space in 2017, you had to have heard of SocialEnvy or its spinoff companies LikeSocial and IGFamous.
The owners of this company flouted Instagram’s restrictions and, despite being met with cease & desist letters, they continued to operate. The whole thing was brazen beyond belief, and probably didn’t turn out too well for the owners.
The company was alleged to have controlled thousands of fake accounts which executed millions of fake actions on the platform.
Business Analysis
| Item | Result |
| Growth Type | SaaS / Botnet |
| Quality of Service | High |
| Business Registry / Location | New Zealand |
| Traceable Team | Well, now they are |
| Functioning Phone | No |
| Longevity | 2+ Years |
| Doesn’t Misuse IG Branding | Eh |
| Active Blog | True |
| External Sites | IGFamous, LikeSocial |
| Dashboard / Account Management | No |
| Offsite Testimonies | No |
| Forthcoming About Password Handling | No |
Pricing
Social Envy’s services were a little on the expensive side. But, oh man, were people willing to pay for it.
Service Details
Social Envy gained followers by combining the traditional follow-unfollow method and also leveraging their stable of thousands of fake accounts. Interlaced with real activity, it wouldn’t have been possible to tell which interactions were real and which were fake.
Integrity & Reputation
Well, the service was a sham. They were a market leader at the peak of the Instagram growth phase and the owners made millions. Unfortunately, they got greedy and ignored Instagram’s orders to shut down.
They sloppily rebranded, got caught several more times, and then got sued out of existence. Can you imagine making millions and then risking it all and ignoring Instagram’s orders to shut down? Personally, I can’t.
Conclusion
Social Envy was a legendary service. The founders are now barred from operating social media management services or even having Instagram accounts. Incredibly, it appears they emerged from the legal battle without having to pay the nearly ten million dollars in damages.