Relaunched Friends Reunited attracts record 5.5 million unique users

by Adam Hill, Media Week 27-Aug-08, 15:40

LONDON - Schoolmates networking website Friends Reunited attracted a record 5.5 million unique users during July, according to Nielsen research. The figure was just two million in April - a month before the site relaunched, abandoning its subscription model to broaden its appeal.

Across the ITV-owned group, which also includes Friends Reunited Dating and family tree site Genes Reunited, unique users doubled to 6.6 million overall after the relaunch.

Since May, the sites have relied solely on ad revenue and ITV is looking at video as one means to drive traffic. Video is an area of growth in terms of sales potential, a spokesman said.

Other new features include a timeline that allows members to share events from each other’s past. Since the pay wall was dropped, users have sent 1.8 million messages per month and there has been a 450% increase in content sharing through photo uploads.

Friends Reunited has 19 million registered members, with an average use age of 42. The company was launched eight years ago and was bought by ITV for £120m in 2005. It launched its first TV ad campaign in July.

Genes Reunited has eight million members, while the dating site has 970,000 members.