Internet Marketing – StartUpArabia

Cyber Gear Launches DIYads For Self Serve Advertising

February 17, 2009February 17, 2009 MMM 4 Comments

Cyber Gear, a UAE based web design and online marketing firm, has just launched DIYadsonline.com, a new “do it yourself” online ad creation, placement and performance analysis service for the Middle East.

The service is targeted at advertisers who are on a budget, and need to cheaply put together an online display ad, and get it out there as quickly and easily as possible. At DIYadsonline.com prices start at US$ 99/month for up to 5,000 banner impressions.

Currently, online campaigns created through the service can be run on DubaiCityGuide.com, another service by Cyber Gear, with the company aiming to add new sites to the DIYads publishers network in the coming weeks.

Sharad Agarwal, CEO of Cyber Gear, said in the company’s press release that “Self serve display ads are the ‘killer app’ of Web advertising. We have developed a proprietary real time ad customization tool and intuitive web-based interface that deploys XML Feed to create more engaging display ads using Flash technology. The new tool will enable advertisers select from a number of ad targeting factors such as geographic, demographic and various user interest categories.”

The new service comes at a time when many companies are cutting down their advertising budgets, and many people are expecting a bigger push towards online advertising; so it should be interesting to see how well it does.

I wouldn’t expect the system to create some really awesome or ultra creative banner ads, but it still could be enough for someone making an entrance to online advertising, with a limited budget, and wanting to test the waters.

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

October 13, 2008October 13, 2008 MMM 1 Comment

According 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

October 9, 2008October 9, 2008 MMM 2 Comments

Algeria Algeria 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%.

Experts Discuss Regions Growth Potential For Internet Marketing Strategies

August 21, 2008August 21, 2008 MMM

The latest advances in measuring and optimizing online marketing and the advantages of implementing such strategies in a competitive marketplace were discussed at a seminar on Search Engine Marketing hosted by Dubai Media City, a member of TECOM Investments.

The two-hour interactive workshop was organised in association with WSI Internet Consulting, a leading provider of internet solutions to businesses worldwide. The event witnessed the participation of 95 regional marketing professionals, representing advertising and PR agencies, media buyers and other professional organizations, keen to optimize the online presence of their companies and clients.

Mohamed Almulla, Executive Director, Dubai Media City, said: “The seminar is in line with our objective to offer a suitable platform for corporate leaders based in the UAE and the wider GCC market to benefit from latest technological trends. We are confident this event will further reinforce Dubai Media City’s mission of launching initiatives that are geared towards nurturing the region’s knowledge economy.”

Husam Jandal, Internet Business Consultant, WSI Internet Consulting, said: “With the highest growth rate of Internet users in the world, the Middle East represents a vast opportunity for the business community to promote their products and services online.

“With more than 90 per cent of all traffic generated on the Internet coming from search engines, it is important for the local business community to identify various ways of utilizing these Internet tools to achieve the desired visibility for their businesses.”

He added a majority of the regional companies are yet to realize the immense benefits that could accrue through the use of the Internet, which can be tapped for generating fruitful business leads and for building brand recognition.

He added: “There is a huge gap between demand for information and the supply of relevant content in the business arena. There are people who are desperately looking for certain products and services but unable to find relevant links because business offerings are not available online, or at least not visible on search engines. As an essential marketing tool for businesses, search engine marketing has become one of the world’s most preferred marketing strategies due to its flexibility, accessibility, accuracy, and cost effectiveness.”

Focusing on the details of regional internet usage, experts who led the seminar found Yahoo, Google and MSN as the most preferred search engines, a trend akin to the Western world. However, recently launched language specific search engines such as ‘Araby’ have become increasingly popular among Internet users in the Arab world, the seminar highlighted.

The workshop also underlined the findings of market studies that the Internet is the best vehicle for addressing the youth segment as a key target audience with more than 65 per cent preferring the Internet as their main source of information, according to a recent study by Maktoob Research, another regional internet market research company.