Draugiem.lv

Platform · this deep dive is built from the official pages of the platform itself and of the tools that support it.

Overview

Draugiem.lv (from the Latvian *draugiem*, "to friends") is a Latvian social network that has been running since 2004: the footer reads "© 2004 — 2026 SIA Draugiem" (home page). The operator is named in the terms of use: SIA Draugiem, registration number 40003737497, address — Ojāra Vācieša iela 6B, Riga, LV-1004.

The structure is closer to a portal of the 2000s than to a modern feed: news, galleries, games, groups, "pages" (Lapas), ratings, events, blogs, private messages (advertising section navigation). For a business the key object is a page at an address of the form draugiem.lv/<keyword> (page rules). There are international versions on other domains — the English frype.com and the Hungarian baratikor.com; the main interface language is Latvian.

Who's here

The only audience figure the platform gives itself is "around 1 million users" actively using Draugiem.lv (page about business pages). It comes with no date and no methodology; this is the platform's statement about itself.

Traffic volume shows up indirectly in the advertising rate card, where every placement lists an average number of impressions per day: 3 329 623 for a text link in the mobile version m.draugiem.lv, 560 157 for the same link in the Android and iPhone apps, 845 512 for a 640×140 image in the mobile environment (mobile platform prices). These are impressions, not people, and the figures belong to the platform's own ad sales team. Draugiem.lv does not publish country-level statistics.

Getting started

Registration is ordinary, and there is a sign-in through Google (login form). After that come requirements most networks do not have (terms of use): only truthful information about yourself — fake profiles, parody profiles and profiles of animals are prohibited (clause 3.1); one person, one profile (clause 3.2); the avatar must show you, with a clearly distinguishable face (clause 3.3); commercial activity is prohibited everywhere except the sections specifically set aside for it, and requires the platform's written consent (clause 3.4); the minimum age is 13, and younger users need a parent's consent (clause 3.6).

For a business this means one thing: work through a page, not through a personal profile. The page rules (in force since 17 March 2012) prohibit registering a page for a company you do not represent.

"Official page" status comes with a distinguishing mark and is bought separately: a one-off fee of 7.00 €, after which the platform promises a 10 € gift card for your first advertising campaign (requirements). The status is not available to the "jokes and entertainment" category. An official page may open a "Shop" section, but then it is obliged to publish the phone number and e-mail of a contact person and to answer users within two working days (page rules).

What you can publish

A page's formats are visible through its API: the "runā" feed (the equivalent of posts), news with categories, and a questions-and-answers section (page administration API). A user posts photos, video, articles, comments and messages (terms of use, clause 2.1).

Content rights are transparent: copyright stays with you, the platform receives a non-exclusive royalty-free licence to use the material within the portal, and you can revoke it by deleting the material or the profile (clause 2.3, same document).

Prohibited (clause 2.4): infringement of other people's intellectual property rights, insults to honour and dignity, incitement to violence, stirring up hostility on grounds of nationality, race, religion, sex, age or disability, vulgarity, viruses, unapproved advertising, pyramid schemes, chain letters and spam, pornography, and advertising of goods and services that require a licence you do not hold.

How to grow

The platform does not describe a recommendation algorithm. What it does describe outright is a ban on "grey" growth: bringing users to a page and to applications is permitted only through the built-in invitation system, and sending e-mails and notifications for that purpose is prohibited (page rules).

Promotion is paid, and the rate card is public. The advertising section lists business pages, text ads, a "highlighted runā", advertising e-mails, banners, "question of the day", polls, the mobile platform, retargeting and application projects. Prices include VAT:

Text ads — per click by a unique user per day: 0.12 € for the standard format and 0.25 € for a "design ad"; with a retargeting audience a coefficient of 1.3 is applied to the click price (prices). The same page gives the text limits: with an image, a headline of up to 25 characters and text of up to 55; without an image, 50 and 80; for a "design ad", 35 and 75, with a recommended image of 1200×628.
Highlighted "runā" post — from 15.00 € for 12 000 impressions (prices).
Advertising e-mails — 0.012 € per user (prices). In the summary table for business pages the same product is listed at 0.05 € per user (summary prices) — we record the discrepancy between the platform's two pages rather than resolve it.
Banners — a 640×256 image in the applications infolog costs 0.023 € per user at 46 300 impressions per day; a "double infolog" 500×430 costs 0.044 € (image) or 0.050 € (HTML5), and video in the same slot is 13.00 € CPM (specification and prices).

Path to monetization

Draugiem.lv makes no payouts to authors for views: no such mechanism appears either in the terms of use or in the page rules. Section 4 of the terms describes payments in one direction only: the user tops up an electronic wallet or pays immediately, prices are in euros including VAT, and there are automatic payments that can be cancelled at any time.

What you can earn here comes from selling your own goods and services through the "Shop" section of an official page — with an obligation to comply with Latvian rules on distance contracts and the right of withdrawal. The same document carries a hard reservation: without written agreement from Draugiem.lv, a page may not carry paid information, sell advertising or display third-party advertising, and introducing any paid services requires approval (page rules).

Tools and automation

There is an official API, and it is detailed for a platform of this size. The documentation section lists: the integrated applications API, the Draugiem.lv "passport" (sign-in with a Draugiem account), Draugiem ID, a PHP library, the "Ieteikt draugiem" ("Recommend to friends") widget, the page applications API, the page administration API, the events section API and the applications API. There are ready-made integrations for WordPress and Drupal, and English versions of some of the documents.

The most useful piece for SMM is the page administration API: the pages/dashboard summary (views and unique visitors for today and for the week, the number of followers and how it changed, counters for messages and questions); news management via pages/news (list, add, edit, get, delete); answers to questions via pages/faq; statistics via pages/stats broken down by unique visitors, followers, pages and gender; feed management via pages/say (list, add, delete). Scheduling and exporting statistics through the official interface are therefore possible.

Note: by default the API is switched off on every page. The owner enables it in administration mode in the "Lapas API" section, after which they receive an application ID, a page key and a user key (same source).

Limits and rules

Separating the personal from the commercial is the platform's main restriction: in an ordinary profile commercial activity is prohibited (terms of use, clause 3.4), and on a page it is tightly regulated.

The page rules separately prohibit posting material that advertises or links to competing social networks and to products competing with the portal's own services. The same document bans advertising of financial services without a Latvian licence, pyramid and recruitment schemes, advertising of alcohol and tobacco to an audience under 18, and prescription drugs and unregistered food supplements.

Personal data obtained through a page application may be used only for the operation of that application, for communication and for providing services; passing it to third parties is prohibited, and in competitions on a page requesting users' contact details is categorically prohibited. The platform reserves the right to stop publication of a page or an embedded application unilaterally, without warning and without explanation, and to set a minimum age for its visitors (same source).

Who it's for

Draugiem.lv makes sense if your audience is Latvian: local retail, services, events, media. The advantages are concrete — a public rate card with prices down to hundredths of a euro, pay-per-click from 0.12 €, and a documented page administration API with statistics export. That combination is rare on platforms of this size.

It is not for you if you are counting on organic growth: the platform describes no free promotion tools, and attracting followers is permitted only through the built-in invitations. And it is not for you if your model is content monetization: the platform does not pay authors.

Verified data

The checked data this deep dive rests on.

About the platform

the platform describes itself like this: «Draugiem.lv ir Latvijas pirmā un populārākā pašmāju sociālā tīkla vietne. Reģistrējies, veido draudzīgas saites un izmanto citas portāla sniegtās iespējas.»

Self-description: this is the platform's claim about itself, not an independent assessment

source, checked 2026-07-28

operator — SIA Draugiem, registration number 40003737497, address: Ojāra Vācieša iela 6B, Riga, LV-1004

Terms of use, in force since 25.05.2018

source, checked 2026-07-28

The starting year is taken from the copyright notice; there is no separate history page

source, checked 2026-07-28

international versions on other domains: the English frype.com and the Hungarian baratikor.com

Links in the home page footer; we did not open the versions themselves

source, checked 2026-07-28

Who's here

the platform states that around 1 million users actively use Draugiem.lv; no date or methodology is given

The platform's statement about itself in the advertising section

source, checked 2026-07-28

the advertising rate card gives the average number of impressions per day: 3 329 623 for a text link in m.draugiem.lv, 560 157 for a link in the Android and iPhone apps, 845 512 for a 640×140 image in the mobile environment

These are impressions, not users; the figures belong to the platform's own ad sales team

source, checked 2026-07-28

Getting started

minimum age — 13 years; younger users only with the consent of a parent or legal guardian

Clause 3.6 of the terms of use

source, checked 2026-07-28

Account and access

one person — one profile; fake, misleading and parody profiles and profiles of animals are prohibited; the avatar must show the user themselves with a clearly distinguishable face

Clauses 3.1–3.3 of the terms of use

source, checked 2026-07-28

Business terms

commercial activity on the portal is prohibited everywhere except the sections specifically set aside for it, and requires the platform's written consent

Clause 3.4 of the terms of use: for a business this means working through a page, not through a personal profile

source, checked 2026-07-28

a business page gets an address of the form draugiem.lv/<keyword>; registering a page for a company you do not represent is prohibited

Page rules, in force since 17.03.2012

source, checked 2026-07-28

an official page may open a «Shop» section, but is then obliged to give the phone number and e-mail of a contact person and to answer users within 2 working days

Page rules

source, checked 2026-07-28

Content

copyright in posted content stays with the user; the platform receives a non-exclusive royalty-free licence to use it within the portal, revocable by deleting the material or the profile

Clauses 2.2–2.3 of the terms of use

source, checked 2026-07-28

Promotion

bringing users to a page and to applications is permitted only through the built-in invitation system; sending e-mails and notifications for that purpose is prohibited

Page rules

source, checked 2026-07-28

Advertising

advertising products: business pages, text ads, «highlighted runā», advertising e-mails, banners, «question of the day», polls, the mobile platform, retargeting, application projects, SEO publications

A public rate card; signing in is not required to view the prices

source, checked 2026-07-28

How the money works here

The words "affiliate link" are not in the rules, but the list of forbidden links is set directly — in the "Rules for the use of Pages": "Lapu saturā un aplikācijās aizliegts ievietot paziņojumus, attēlus, reklāmas vai saiti uz avotiem, kas: … reklamē vai ved uz konkurējošiem sociāliem tīkliem; reklamē Portālā piedāvātajiem pakalpojumiem konkurējošus produktus vai pakalpojumus" — "in the content of Pages and in applications it is forbidden to place announcements, images, advertising or a link to sources which… advertise competing social networks or lead to them; advertise goods or services competing with the services of the Portal". The same list forbids links to misleading content, to unlicensed financial services, to pyramids and seller-recruitment schemes, to pornography, to unregistered medicines and food supplements. The placing of someone else's advertising requires written agreement: "Bez rakstiskas saskaņošanas ar Draugiem.lv aizliegts Lapā vai tajā integrētajā aplikācijā piedāvāt informācijas izvietošanu par maksu vai pārdot reklāmu, vai izvietot trešo personu reklāmu"

our translation; the original is in Latvian; "Lapu lietošanas noteikumi" in the version of 17.03.2012; the text of the help centre pages is served by script, it was read from the platform's open language file https://ifrype.com/v20631/lang/lv/xRules.js and from the markup of the page help/?tab=7

source, checked 2026-08-04

Commercial activity is forbidden by default. "Lietošanas noteikumi", point 3.4: "Portālā ir aizliegtas komerciāla rakstura aktivitātes, izņemot tam speciāli paredzētās vietās (sadaļās) un saskaņā ar attiecīgo sadaļu noteikumiem vai ar rakstisku mūsu piekrišanu" — "activity of a commercial nature is forbidden on the Portal, except in the places (sections) specially designated for it and in accordance with the rules of those sections or with our written consent". Point 2.4.7 forbids the placing of content which "ir nesaskaņota reklāma vai reklamē, piedāvā vai veicina piramīdveida shēmas, neatļautas sacensības, ķēdes vēstules, mēstules un tamlīdzīgas lietas" — "is unagreed advertising or advertises, offers or promotes pyramid schemes, unauthorised competitions, chain letters, spam and the like". Point 2.4.9 forbids the advertising of enterprises, brands, goods and services for which a licence is required but has not been issued. For Pages additionally: users may be attracted only by the built-in invitation system, and the introduction of any paid services is subject to agreement with Draugiem.lv

our translation; the original is in Latvian; "Lietošanas noteikumi" in the version of 25.05.2018; a violation gives the platform the right to suspend, block or delete the profile without a refund of the money for paid services (point 4.13)

source, checked 2026-08-04

without written agreement from Draugiem.lv, a page may not carry paid information, sell advertising or display third-party advertising; introducing any paid services requires approval

Page rules

source, checked 2026-07-28

What must be disclosed. There is no requirement to label advertising or sponsored content in the documents read. Disclosure is required only for contests: "reklāmā (noteikumos) obligāti ir jānorāda, ka Konkursa organizators ir konkrētais uzņēmums, organizācija vai persona, kas rīko Konkursu un nodrošina balvas" — "the advertising (the rules) must state that the organiser of the contest is the specific enterprise, organisation or person that runs the contest and provides the prizes"

our translation; the original is in Latvian; "Lietošanas noteikumi" (the version of 25.05.2018) and "Lapu lietošanas noteikumi" (17.03.2012) were read; there is no general obligation to label advertising in them; "Reklāmas noteikumi" (help/?tab=8) could not be read — the text is assembled by the script adPolicy.js from a language dictionary which is not served separately

source, checked 2026-08-04

Pricing

«official page» status — a one-off fee of 7,00 € (including VAT); the platform promises a 10 € gift card for the first advertising campaign

The status is not available to pages in the «jokes and entertainment» category

source, checked 2026-07-28

text ads are paid per click by a unique user per day: 0,12 € for the standard format, 0,25 € for a «design ad»; with a retargeting audience a coefficient of 1,3 is applied to the click price

Prices include VAT

source, checked 2026-07-28

a highlighted «runā» post — from 15,00 € for 12 000 impressions

Price includes VAT

source, checked 2026-07-28

advertising e-mails — 0,012 € per user on the product page; in the summary price table for business pages the same product is listed at 0,05 € per user

A discrepancy between two pages of the platform itself, recorded without being resolved

source, checked 2026-07-28

banners: a 640×256 image in the applications infolog — 0,023 € per user at 46 300 impressions per day; a «double infolog» 500×430 — 0,044 € (image) or 0,050 € (HTML5); video in the same slot — 13,00 € CPM

Prices include VAT; an HTML5 banner in a zip may contain at most 100 files

source, checked 2026-07-28

Limits and restrictions

text ad limits: with an image, a headline of up to 25 characters and text of up to 55; without an image — 50 and 80; «design ad» — 35 and 75; the recommended image is 1200×628, minimum 600×314

The only published text-length limits on the platform

source, checked 2026-07-28

Restrictions

prohibited: infringement of intellectual property rights, insults to honour and dignity, incitement to violence, stirring up hostility, vulgarity, viruses, unapproved advertising, pyramid schemes, chain letters and spam, pornography, advertising of licensable goods without a licence

Clause 2.4 of the terms of use

source, checked 2026-07-28

a page may not carry material that advertises or links to competing social networks and to products competing with the portal's services; advertising of financial services without a Latvian licence, of pyramid schemes, of alcohol and tobacco to an audience under 18, of prescription drugs and of unregistered food supplements is prohibited

Page rules

source, checked 2026-07-28

Legal

personal data obtained through a page application may be used only for the operation of the application, for communication and for providing services; passing it to third parties is prohibited; in competitions on a page, requesting users' contact details is prohibited

Page rules

source, checked 2026-07-28

API access

the address https://www.draugiem.lv/applications/dev/docs/ was found on the home page by the «api/dev» marker in the address itself, but the page that opened contains no signs of developer documentation — this does not confirm a developer section

CORRECTED the previous version declared any address containing the word api or dev found on the home page to be a developer section. All 57 such records were checked by opening the address: 24 turned out to be documentation. See data/technical/dev-links-verified.tsv and docs/research/S195-догадка-по-адресу.md

source, checked 2026-07-28

the API documentation covers: integrated applications, the Draugiem.lv «passport», Draugiem ID, a PHP library, the «Ieteikt draugiem» widget, applications for pages, the page administration API, the events section API, the applications API; there are integrations for WordPress and Drupal

Some of the documents are available in English

source, checked 2026-07-28

page administration API: pages/dashboard (views, unique visitors, followers and how they changed, messages, questions), pages/news (list, add, edit, get, delete), pages/faq, pages/stats (unique visitors, followers, pages, gender), pages/say (list, add, delete)

Allows scheduling and statistics export through the official interface

source, checked 2026-07-28

by default the API is switched off on every page; the owner enables it in administration mode in the «Lapas API» section and receives an application ID, a page key and a user key

There are no numeric call-rate limits in the public documentation

source, checked 2026-07-28

Languages

the interface language of the home page: lv

The language is taken from the markup attribute, the versions from hreflang

source, checked 2026-07-28

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