ITV adds holiday site to its Friends Reunited network

holidays and 46% have met someone on holiday they would like to get in
contact with.

Vanessa Kent, controller of online sales at ITV, said: "We identified a
definite gap in the market based on research carried out with the
Friends Reunited database and it was clear there is an appetite for this
type of content. For advertisers it will provide a captive audience and
the opportunity to reach users engaged in the travel social
network."

According to Friends Reunited head Jon Clark, more than one million
profiles are updated every month on the site as members come back to
keep their friends abreast of the latest news, including sharing their
recent holiday photos.

"On average, members register against three lists from the school they
attended to university to the street they once lived on. This new
service will enable them to reunite with even more old friends and
acquaintances," Clark said.

In 2007, January registrations to the reunion site were up 74% with 5.7
million unique users and 275 million page impressions. Of the adult
online population, 61% are now members of Friends Reunited with one in
three adults online visiting over a two-month period. Other spin-off
sites include Genes Reunited, Friends Reunited Dating and Friends
Reunited Jobs.

Friends Reunited founder Steve Pankhurst helped fund the launch of a
similar site, WAYN, in May 2003. In January this year, WAYN received
$11m from a team of investors including lastminute.com co-founder
and former chairman Brent Hoberman who is now chairman of WAYN. The site
has grown from 45,000 users in March 2005 to more than seven million
today.

Friends Reunited was sold to ITV for £120m in December 2005.