PARSHIP Doubles in Size in Just One Year

LONDON, May 8 /PRNewswire/ --

- Online Matchmaking Service Confirms Market Leadership as Europe-Wide 
Turnover Grows to 46 Million Euros

Until recently, premium matchmaking services were viewed as a niche
segment of the mainstream online dating market, which is dominated by players
with big TV campaigns and even bigger boasts about their membership. It is
now apparent that the market is becoming more sophisticated. According to new
figures revealed by online matchmaking service PARSHIP, premium online
matchmaking has doubled in size in the last twelve months, carving out a
healthy slice of the 317m Euros generated by the online dating industry in
2007.

PARSHIP, which uses a scientific compatibility test to match single
people who are seeking a serious relationship, is Europe's largest premium
online matchmaker: It now operates in 14 countries, including the UK and
Ireland, employing a total of 150 people. It today announced a turnover for
2007 of 46 million Euros, which represents an increase of 100% over the
previous year. Industry figures estimate total European revenues for the
online matchmaking segment at some 67 million Euros, which means that
PARSHIP's share is a dominant 70 percent.

According to Jupiter Research there will be an average growth for the
whole dating sector in Europe of 20 percent in the current year. "There are
15 million singles currently living in the UK, six million of whom expect to
use an online dating service over the next 12 months," commented PARSHIP CEO
Dr. Arndt Roller. "However, looking for love on mainstream sites is a bit
like searching for a needle in a haystack; by contrast, PARSHIP, with its
scientific compatibility test, dramatically increases the chances of finding
love. We have invested strongly in product development, member acquisition
and information technology, providing a quality premium service that inspires
confidence in sophisticated singles."

Unlike other dating organisations, PARSHIP is setting a strategic course
for organic growth. As the company is already a clear market leader, it is
probable that any future growth from the acquisition of smaller companies
will only be marginal. Arndt Roller continues: "We are by far the biggest and
the fastest-growing provider in our premium segment. Our success is based on
our commitment to quality, which has led to tens of thousands of our members
finding happy and durable relationships."

At the heart of PARSHIP is the 80-question scientific
compatibility test. Each new member takes the test, which creates a
fascinating profile of his/her personality and forms the basis of the PARSHIP
matching process. This scours the database for matches to the new member's
profile and immediately presents a list of profiles of potential partners.
Each of these profiles shares a high compatibility score with the member in
question, in addition to fulfilling criteria he/she has specified. This
scientifically proven method, based on over 40 years of scientific research
by German Prof. Hugo Schmale and his team at the University of Hamburg,
matches people who have a mutual balance of similarities and differences in
their personalities, which is of essential importance to a harmonious
relationship.

About PARSHIP.co.uk

PARSHIP.co.uk is the British subsidiary of PARSHIP, Europe's
largest premium online matchmaking service. It is specifically for people who
are serious about forming a lasting relationship and is built on a rigorous
personality profiling test that determines compatibility. It has some six
million members across Europe, predominantly affluent, educated men and women
between 28 and 55 years old.

Since its launch in Germany in 2001, PARSHIP has successfully
matched many thousands people, and it now operates in 14 countries of Western
Europe and also in Mexico

PARSHIP GmbH is headquartered in Hamburg and is part of the
Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group, one of Germany's largest publishing
companies with financial interests in more than 80 companies, including the
Macmillan Group.