Press Release

Freeads.co.uk has hit the top 10 of classified sites in the UK for the first time, boasting traffic growth of 160% between January and June 2007, making it the fastest growing classified site in the UK according to the latest figures from Hitwise.

The site saw traffic rocket by 160.4% in the first half of 2007, meaning it outgrew the overall classified market more than14 times, which was up 11% in same time period, compared to market figures for the same time last year.

Growth figures for Freeads.co.uk illustrate it has significantly outperformed well-established competitors. For the same period last year, loot.com is 24.7% down, Adtrader has seen a decline of 1% on the same time last year, Friday-Ad is down 7.3%, however number one player Gumtree saw 20.8% growth.

Freeads.co.uk averaged third place in the Hitwise top 10 for the month of June, with 4.7% market share - up from 1.9% in February 2007.

Freeads.co.uk chief executive Duncan Horton said: "We've made huge gains in the past three months, and this is just the beginning for us. We're hot on the heels of Adtrader's second position and already have 95% more traffic than loot.com. Thanks to our ambitious growth plans we're confident of overtaking Adtrader and claiming second place in the coming two months."

Gaining the accolade of a position in the Hitwise top 10 comes as the site launches Google Maps, premium placement and an on-site ticker highlighting the best deals on site in a bid to attract even more users in the coming three months.

Ex-lastminute.com marketing chief Horton took over the helm of Freeads.co.uk in February with marketing and commercial director Stuart Parish, lastminute.com's former head of retail marketing, following the acquisition of a majority stake in the business by founder of Holiday Autos Clive Jacobs.

Since March the number of unique ads on the site has risen from 45,000 per day to peaks of 70,000 currently, a figure that Horton is confident of boosting to 100,000 ads by the end of the summer.