Search further afield, however, and the prospects are not so grim. Look at the global GDP per capita figures, a key measure of ability to buy, and Qatar tops the list, with western nations only making up three of the top eight.  Consumer confidence is critical in determining how much money is spent on goods and a recent Gallup poll has demonstrated that citizens of countries such as Qatar and Oman are positive about the potential for continued economic growth in their country. In fact, an overwhelming 92% of Qatar nationals expected the current boom to continue.

 

This optimism, and an increasing willingness of online advertisers to explore these emerging markets, is having a positive impact for Hsoub Ltd., the British-based company behind Hsoub Ads. Hsoub provide the means by which advertisers can interface with the MENA market and is now serving more than a million ad impressions every day to its publishing network, consisting of over 350 quality Arabic websites, together attracting nearly ten million unique visitors per month.

 

For disenchanted entrepreneurs in the west, the time for action could be now. There is a current disparity between a web-hungry MENA population and a local technology infrastructure that is still in its infancy. Furthermore, local businesses have been slow to embrace the world of ecommerce, although that situation is already starting to change as IT giants, such as SAP and Google, begin rolling out development programs.

 

For the moment, that leaves a young and lucrative market open to internet-savvy advertisers from the rich world, while switched-on website and blog publishers from the MENA can cash in by hosting those adverts via platforms, such as that provided by Hsoub Ads.