Match.com powers dating for FreeAds

The deal will give the one million monthly users of Freeads.co.uk will have access to Match.com’s database of UK singles.

Match.com also powers the dating services for MSN and Yahoo, as the site has a particularly strong reach amongst thirtysomething singles using the internet as a marketplace for buying and selling.

“There are many similarities in our businesses,” says Match.com managing director Jason Stockwood “Dating’s roots are in classifieds but more importantly, our user base is complimentary and our services of benefit to the users. The management team at Freeads.co.uk is creative, dynamic and forward thinking and it’s great to be working with them.”

Duncan Horton, Freeads.co.uk chief executive, commented: “For us partnering with a company of Match.com’s calibre to launch our dating section is a huge coup. Rather than relying on our users to populate this new section for us we are able to hit the ground running by offering them access to the millions of singles already registered on Match.com.

“We are aiming to work with one exclusive third-party supplier for each of the categories on our site so as to give our loyal user base more choice than ever. “This is an exciting time for the online classified market. Online is the fastest-growing sector in the classified arena and Freeads.co.uk is the fastest-growing classified website in the UK according to market analysts at Hitwise. Hitwise already puts our marketshare as twice the size as that of Loot.com.”

Freeads.co.uk is backed by Clive Jacobs, founder of car hire giant Holiday Autos, who bought a major stake in the business in early 2007. Horton joined Freeads.co.uk at the beginning of the year, he was formerly marketing director at lastminute.com.