Reuters reports that Arab websites face challenges in attracting ads mainly because of the low number of online users and a lack of trust from big-name advertisers.


Reuters report that Arab websites face challenges in attracting ads mainly because of the low number of online users and a lack of trust from big-name advertisers.

According to Mustafa Mohamed, NetAdvantage’s managing director, online advertising agency based in the United Arab Emirates Arab internet adspend has grown from less than $250,000 in 1999 to the $7-$10 million expected in 2005. Mohamed said, “multinational firms still do not properly recognize the internet as a medium for advertising in the Arab world”.

Mohamed expects Arab online adspend to reach $12-$17 million in 2006.
Mohamed, whose company sells ads on several portals, including news channel www.aljazeera.net and www.maktoob.com, the region’s biggest email provider.

According to Alexa, among the top 500 websites worldwide only five are Arab, including the online edition of Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper, maktoob.com and aljazeera.net.

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