Tag: online advertising

TigerFish Network Aims To compete With Google and Yahoo

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H2O New Media

H2O New Media, the UAE based social media agency, recently released a bit more details about its TigerFish Network, previously covered here.

The TigerFish Network, is promoted as the first Middle East based social media advertising network, which will allow advertisers to target their online marketing strategy based on user profiles and user defined preferences. This advertising network will be offered to H2O New Media customers and publishers, giving them an opportunity to generate revenues from their online publications and social media websites.

The TigerFish Network will be implemented across all social communities owned and operated by H2O New Media and those of its customers.

H2O New Media hopes TigerFish will enable it to strongly compete with companies like Google and Yahoo, hoping that by being a local online advertising network that crosses different social media channels, they can provide a higher rate of return for publishers in the region, offering them targeted regional advertising based on users profiles.

“In 2009, the focus for TigerFish Network will be to expand our advertising sales team and recruit local publishers into the network. Our aim is to work with existing social media platforms in the UAE and into migrating them from Google on to TigerFish Network. We foresee significant workload in this transition however our relationships with media and PR agencies in this market is expected to boost the launch of this platform. We will compete directly with Google for a share of the UAE’s online advertising market as we are leaders of social media development and we provide a holistic and consultative service to clients and users” said Mr. Steve Vaile, CEO and Founder, H2O New Media.

The TigerFish Network is scheduled to open business by mid January 2009. The product is currently implemented on a number of social media platforms with a reach of over 300,000 unique users per month across a mix of platforms.

Report: MENA Advertising Growth To Double In 2009

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An industry report released by ZenithOptimedia, a media-buying arm of one of the world’s largest advertising firms, Publicis Group, says 2009 advertising growth for the MENA region will grow by 10 percent, nearly the double of this year’s expected growth rate of 5.8 percent.

Egypt should be a strong contributor to the growth of advertising in the region, with most of the gains coming from the GCC and the growing pan-Arab advertising market.

This stands out against a gloomy worldwide outlook, forecasting a 0.2 percent drop in advertising spend next year, with the North American market taking the worst hit, expected to decline 5.7 percent. 

Internet advertising is expected to grow 18 percent next year though, both globally and in the North American market, taking a 15.6 percent share of global ad expenditures in 2011, 5.2 percentage points ahead of magazines and 5.6 points behind newspapers. The gap between internet and newspapers currently stands at 15.1 points.

Reduced advertising budgets are expected to help boost internet advertising, which costs fractions of what it costs to advertise via traditional media, and offers advertisers a clear way to track audience.

The report also expects television to do relatively well in the downturn, making up a record 38.5 percent of global ad expenditure in 2010 and 2011.

Middle East Economic Slowdown To Boost Online Advertising

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The economic slowdown in the Middle East is expected to accelerate the growth of online advertising in the region, reported The National, as companies opt for less expensive web ads over pricey traditional media.

Advertising online costs fractions of what it costs to advertise via traditional media, and makes it easier to measure the impact of advertising campaigns. 

The market now accounts for up to 20 per cent of total ad spending in developed economies, and is the driver of virtually all growth in advertising spending.

On the other hand, spending on online advertising in the Middle East is estimated to be as low as US$50 million, translating into less than 1 per cent of total advertising spending, which is one of the main factors holding back the growth of startups and web businesses around the region.

Google, which has become a giant in the area of online advertising, and which has been pushing hard into the Arab market, say they are seeing faster growth in regional demand as advertisers look for ways to increase their reach while limiting their spending.
“In an economically cautious environment, people need to continue to grow their business, making people aware of their product while also cutting costs,” said Mohammed Gawdat, the managing director of Google for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Every technology adoption follows an ‘S’ curve: it starts slow, then grows exponentially, peaks and tails off,” he said. “The Middle East is definitely in the hockey-stick part of that curve right now. Our numbers show that it is growing at a tremendous pace.”

Mazen Halawi, the corporate sales manager of Ayna, an Arabic search engine, recently said that large corporate advertisers in the region planned to put a larger percentage of their advertising budget into online media next year, with some planning for almost 10 per cent of total ad spending to go to the internet, up from just 5 per cent last year.

Globally, total advertising spending is predicted to grow by approximately 5 per cent next year, driven almost entirely by the online market, which will grow by 15 to 20 per cent according to some estimates.

# Source: The National

Up To August, 1.2 Million Dinars Invested In Online Advertising In Tunisia In 2008

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TunisiaAccording to estimative numbers released by Tunisian market research firm Sigma Conseil, that cover the first eight months of 2008, a total investment of 1.2 Million Dinars  (US$ 930,000) has been made in online advertising, a third of which is by the Telecom sector, followed by the Financial and Automotive sectors.

The study shows that Tunisiana, the private mobile operator that is a subsidiary of Orascom Telecom, is on the top of the list of online advertisers, followed by the Arab Tunisian Bank (ATB), TopNet (an Internet service provider), Hannibal Lease, ANG Consulting and Tunisie Télécom (Public mobile and fixed line operator).

In a previous study released in the beginning of 2008, Sigma Conseil estimated the total investment in online advertising in 2007 at only 2% of the total advertising budget in Tunisia which was estimated at 100 Million Dinars (US$ 77 Million).

So mainly, even though there was a 1% growth in online advertising in Tunisia from 2005/2006 to 2007, according to Sigma Conseil’s numbers 2008 isn’t showing that much growth so far in comparison to last year.

Internet Advertising In Algeria Shows 300% Growth In Q3 2008

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AlgeriaAlgeria has recorded a 300% increase in internet advertising during the third quarter of this year, compared to the same period of 2007, reports Algerian daily Le Quotidien d’Oran. This large increase is estimated at 18.6 million Algerian Dinars (US$300,500), compared to only 22 million Algerian Dinars (US$355,500) in an annual spending last year.

The Internet has become one of the main media channels used by the 59 identified advertisers across the country who have found it to be a profitable and inexpensive market, that helps them target specific potential customers.

Algeria has not reached the level of other countries in the area of online advertising yet, but it’s on its way as more major advertisers increasingly choose to explore online advertising with small budgets, pending national ADSL deployment and further development of the local content industry.

To better understand this strong increase in online advertising spending in Algeria, Med & Com, the leading online marketing agency in the country, conducted a study on fifty Algerian sites. The results revealed that the holy month of Ramadan saw a peak in online advertising, registering a record of almost 8.5 million Algerian Dinars (US$ 137,365), with 81 campaigns launched by 40 brands.

The report also reveals a strong presence for the automotive, mobile telephony and ICT sectors; The automotive sector through 17 advertisers covered 27% of the online advertising spend, closely followed by ICT and technology services companies with 22%, through 14 advertisers. The communication and web publishing sector accounts for 15% of the total spend, real esate for 8%, as air travel, food and tourism cover 3% each, leaving 14% for other sectors. 

Always according to the Med & Com report, press and news portals are increasinly attracting more and more advertisers, taking in 31% of the total online advertising spend. Professional sites get 18%, automotive related sites 17%, Youth and leisure sites another 17%, sport and football sites 11%, and mobile and ICT related sites 7%.

Middle East Businesses Missing Out On Online Marketing Power

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Yousef TuqanMiddle East businesses could be taking far greater advantage of the marketing power of the Internet.

That was the message presented by Flip Media CEO, Yousef Tuqan, as he discussed the best ways for Qatar companies to build their web presence at this week’s QSTP TECHtalk.

Tuqan said: ‘Online advertising has been growing at more than 50% a year since 2004. Despite this frenetic increase the total last year came to just $35m, or less than 1% of what Middle East companies spend offline.’

On the plus side, he said, this low demand translates to low prices for online ads, an opportunity that Qatar companies can take advantage of. For example a life-insurance company in the US might pay $30 or more if someone clicks on their advertisement. In the Middle East, a company in the same industry may only have to pay a dollar or two.

Tuqan was presenting at a TECHtalk seminar hosted by Qatar Science & Technology Park. The bi-monthly seminars focus on the intersection between technology and business, and are open to the public.

Joining Tuqan in a panel discussion were ictQatar QCERT Center Director & Manager, Khalid Sadiq Al-Hashmi and Fuego General Manager, Karl Gretton. They agreed that although Qatar has one of the highest rates of Internet usage in the region, with 26% of the population now online, local businesses are not yet making the most of the web.

Tuqan said: ‘The most effective regional online advertising strategies take advantage of the latest technologies in relation to making users active participants instead of passive viewers, but within the social and cultural contexts of the region.’

He gave a case study of a Dubai property developer who set up a website where people could make good wishes for Ramadan. It attracted almost 40,000 participants in less than one month.

Yousef’s PowerPoint presentation is available here (PDF).

Online Advertising in the Arab World: Impacts and Opportunities – August 21st – Amman, Jordan

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PosterThe Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship and Google have announced a new seminar titled “Online Advertising in the Arab World: Impacts and Opportunities“, with Google Country Business Development Manager (UAE) Husni Khuffash.

The event will be taking place on August 21st (5:30 PM) at the Friendship auditorium in The Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Al Jubeiha, Amman (Jordan).

As the title implies, the seminar will be tackling the topics of online advertising in the Arab world, the existing opportunities, and the impacts of pursuing advertising online.

If you’re interested in attending the seminar, you can register by sending an email to: google@qrce.org

Madar Research Reports Growth In Online Advertising Spend

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Madar ResearchMadar Research reports that online advertising spend in the GCC-Levant region registered a growth twice the global rate in 2007. Travel/Hospitality and Real Estate sectors emerged as top online advertising spenders in the region during the past year with a combined outlay comprising nearly half (45%) of the total online spend.

As in previous years, the ongoing rapid growth in online advertising spend in the GCC-Levant region still failed to deliver a market share on par, or at least comparable, with the current world statistics. However, this scenario is expected to improve over the long term as the global market reaches maturity, causing a stable, less rapid growth compared to that of the regional market.

Overall global advertising spend grew by 5.2% last year (2007) fueled by developing markets, whose advertising spend growth managed to offset the comparatively slower growth experienced in developed markets like the United States. On the other hand, total ad spending in the GCC-Levant region rose by approximately 19.4% in 2007, with UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar registering the most growth.

# Source: MediaME

Middle East & Africa Online Ad Spending Will Grow 29.8% By 2011

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IDC: Global Online Ad Spending to Hit $106B in 2011

Marketers worldwide will increase their spending in online ads at a 15 percent to 20 percent clip in the coming years, a growth rate that is “phenomenal,” IDC said Wednesday.

This year, global spending in online ads will reach US$65.2 billion, or about 10 percent of the total advertising market.

In 2011, online ad spending will hit $106.6 billion, accounting for almost 14 percent of the total advertising market, according to IDC.

[…]

The U.S. will lead the global market in online ad spending with $45 billion in 2011. But the fastest growing regions will be Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa, with average annual growth rates of 42.1% and 29.8%, respectively.

[…]

Today’s leading categories of online ads, adult content and gambling, information, electronics, and computing, will still be the top ones in 2011, IDC said.

# Source: ComputerWorld