In a move that promises to further reinforce its ties with the community, Maktoob Business has teamed up with world-renowned Dale Carnegie Training to offer visitors a unique opportunity to take their careers to the next level.

Maktoob Business has created a dedicated section on its homepage that will allow visitors to submit their queries on issues related to management, leadership, sales, human relations, communication skills, public speaking, team building and customer service, and avail of free professional advice from expert trainers who are accredited by Dale Carnegie Training.

All queries and responses will be anonymously displayed on the website so as to allow other visitors who have similar queries to benefit from the advice posted without revealing the identity of the person who originally put the query forward.

'Our partnership with Dale Carnegie Training further strengthens our resolve to offer a more diverse portfolio of business-related services to our visitors from all across the world,' said Mohammad Zeidan, Business Development Manager, Maktoob Business Channels.

'We are confident that this partnership will allow numerous people to discover inherent leadership skills, and in some cases will open their eyes to new challenging and fulfilling career opportunities as they get acknowledged as outstanding leaders.'

With more than 2700 instructors present in over 80 countries, Dale Carnegie Training is a global provider of locally delivered training in leadership, management, sales, human relations & communication skills, public speaking, team building and customer service, essential to improving the performance of individuals and teams, and adding value to organizations. It focuses on giving people in business the opportunity to sharpen their skills and improve their performance to build positive, steady, profitable results.

'We at Dale Carnegie Training believe that every organization is a collection of individuals who have come together to pursue a common objective and that the success of any organization depends on the success of the individuals in it,' said Noha El Daly, Managing Director, Dale Carnegie Training Gulf. 'We're excited to team up with Maktoob Business and look forward to sharing our expertise with people, assisting them as they aspire to make a positive difference in their professional lives.'

Functioning under the umbrella of Maktoob.com, Maktoob Business is a one-stop online destination featuring a mix of relevant services, including profiles and interviews on industry leaders, special reports, news and information resources, features, surveys, a directory of services offered by agencies, a list of upcoming exhibitions and employment opportunities for job-seekers.

'Maktoob Business has long been at the forefront in highlighting core issues and trends related to the region's business, media and advertising sectors and will continuously explore opportunities to enrich the online experience of its users,' concluded Mohammed Zeidan.

Maktoob.com today announced that a recent third-party audit of its Internet audience has confirmed its leading position as the largest and most popular Arab online community in the Middle East, with a monthly audience of almost 7 million unique users.

The biggest website in the Arabic-speaking world conducted its first audit in June 2007. The audit was conducted by UK-based ABC Electronic, which is recognized worldwide for its data certification. The ABC Electronic certificate issued for Maktoob.com confirms that during the month of June 2007, 6,969,475 unique users visited the website, with a daily average of 463,105 unique visitors.

ABC Electronic audited data provides the online media industry with a trusted and robust currency on which media space can be bought and sold, and delivers to marketers and advertisers independent assurance that a website is attracting the size of audience it claims.

'At Maktoob, we are privileged to be a major part of the Internet story in the Arab world. And with that role, we recognize that we have an overarching responsibility to both our rapidly growing audience-to deliver world-class Arabic-language information and communications services-and to our advertising partners-to ensure the full transparency and best-of-breed tools that foster confidence in our medium,' explained Ahmed Nassef, Vice President of the Maktoob Group and General Manager of Maktoob.com.

'The move toward transparency and data accuracy is a sign that our company, and our industry, is indeed coming of age, and at Maktoob, we will continue to be fully committed to international online advertising best practices,' he added.

Richard Foan, Managing Director of ABC Electronic said: 'It is highly encouraging that Maktoob.com is delivering both comparability and transparency by committing to having its site traffic figures independently verified to industry agreed standards.'

'ABC Electronic audited figures continue to provide the online media industry with an important tool to support media buyers and advertisers in their buying decisions, and for the market as a whole to demonstrate accountability of spend online,' Foan added.

'We are delighted about the results of the ABC Electronic audit,' said Hussein Freijeh, Senior Sales Manager at Maktoob.com. 'The results of this audit confirm that the Internet in the region is undergoing unprecedented growth - the Middle East being one of the fastest-growing online emerging markets in the world. This also marks a paradigm shift as marketing as well as advertising professionals can now confidently move a greater percentage of their advertising budgets towards online media.'

In a move aimed at solidifying its position as the Arab World’s leading Internet portal and online community, Maktoob.com has acquired Saudi-based AlFrasha.com, one of the region’s most popular women’s websites.

The acquisition of AlFrasha.com, combined with a series of other recent acquisitions and the rollout of an array of innovative services and content especially geared to Arab women makes Maktoob the undisputed number one source of online information and communications services for women in the Arab world.

“With our newly acquired website, AlFrasha.com, Maktoob now has the largest women’s audience of any online media in the Arab world, with access to over 1 million Arab female visitors actively participating in our women’s community forums and accessing an unmatched array of constantly updated information geared to the special interests of Arab women,” said Ahmed Nassef, General Manager of Maktoob.com.

“This will create unique and highly valuable opportunities for marketers and advertisers to communicate with women consumers and create one-to-one relationships that will strengthen their brands," added Nassef.

Maktoob’s expanded female audience will benefit from the vast amount of up-to-date Arabic content and special tools offered by Helwa, Maktoob’s women’s channel. Some of the regular topics covered by Helwa include health, beauty, parenting, social issues, and home management. Arab women will also benefit from special for-women-only communication tools like women’s blogs, forums, and chatrooms