Guardian to build revenue via online dating strand

Guardian News & Media is planning to build on its online dating and travel strands and develop its ecommerce offering as part of a strategy to increase digital revenue.

The strategy forms part of Guardian.co.uk’s plan to create revenue streams beyond display advertising, as the market continues to be hit by the economic downturn.

Guardian News & Media commercial director Adam Freeman says that while the downturn is affecting a lot of client sectors, online dating continues to do well. “We’re working on putting further investment around [our online dating business] Soulmates, increasing its scale and awareness,” he says. “Right now we’ve got over95,000 members but we think it could be even bigger.”

The plans for Soulmates have yet to be revealed, but it is expected to include a major marketing campaign.

He adds that the travel sector continues to provide year-on-year revenue growth for the publisher. As part of a continued push to increase the number of videos it uses online, Freeman says it will look to beef up its online travel section with more editorially-driven video content, which in turn will create more video advertising inventory.

He says selling products and improving awareness through cross promotions in its print and online offerings is another key focus for growth.