Yahoo! looks to provide more Arabic content

Carol Bartz, global CEO of Yahoo!, says the American digital media company has come a long way since acquiring Maktoob.com in late 2009. And the firm is setting its sites on setting the regional online agenda with more Arabic content to reach a growing audience across the Middle East and North Africa. "When we look around the world, the Middle East is one of the most exciting markets for us at Yahoo!, with a combination of rapid user growth and a very attractive advertising market with incredible potential," Bartz told reporters at Yahoo! offices in Dubai. Yahoo! is rolling out its new Arabic and English mobile website on June 14. Bartz lauded Maktoob.com founders for having the vision of an Arabic e-mail service far before the Arabic world discovered the potential of fully regional online communications in the Middle East. "Two entrepreneurs, Samih Toukan and Hussam Khoury, set up a company called Maktoob.com as an Arabic e-mail service," Bartz said. "It seems the obvious thing to do today, but at the time the idea of anyone using the Internet in Arabic was simply a dream. Innovation "What I like about this story is how it resembles the story of Jerry Yang and David Filo, who founded Yahoo! 16 years ago. All those entrepreneurs — at Yahoo! and at Maktoob alike — were driven by innovation, and a passion for creating great on-line experiences." She billed Maktoob as "a perfect fit within Yahoo!, in terms of what we want to give consumers." Bartz said that Yahoo's success in future relies on maintaining the original vision of the Maktoob founders. "Since then we've worked hard to preserve the excitement of the start-up that was Maktoob, but at the same time we're leveraging the global scale and experience of Yahoo!. That means we're bringing the best of Yahoo! to the region, while not slowing down the passion of the Yahoo! Maktoob team." The market is certainly awaiting fresh investment as more and more people in the region join the world Internet community, she said. "As the premier digital media company, we see a huge opportunity in the growth of the web in the Middle East and North Africa," Bartz said. "There are more than 300 million people in the Middle East and North Africa; 70 million are online today, with 50 million more to come in the next two to three years. "That makes it one of the fastest growing markets in the world. Arabic is also one of the fastest growing languages on the Internet. Yet, only 1 per cent of on-line content is in Arabic today. "While 5 per cent of the world's online population speaks Arabic." Bartz said delivering hyperlocal content to millions of existing and new online users will be a central pillar in Yahoo's strategy to lead on-line growth in the region. "Users here want quality content that informs and entertains. In their language, packaged the right way. And, like anyone, they also want global news for the bigger picture." To infuse Yahoo pages and content with regional personality, Yahoo has over the years opened new offices in Dubai, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, and Casablanca staffed by 300 employees. "Thanks to Amman, Yahoo's sites can support right-to-left languages, like Arabic or Urdu," she said. "Cairo is home to our EMEA Centre of Excellence, a team that provides technical and operations support for our Europe business, in addition to the Middle East and Africa."