People in the Middle East spend nearly 58 million more hours on Facebook and watch more YouTube videos than at any other time of the year, making it prime time for advertisers in the region, according to data.
“Consumption and time spent on our platforms does indeed increase,” Ramez Shehadi, Facebook’s managing director for the Mideast and North Africa, was quoted as saying by AP.
According to Shehadi, people spend a total of 5 percent more on Facebook’s platforms, totalling 58 million additional hours, or 2 million per day.
Additionally, TV dramas and soap operates see an 151 percent increase in viewership on YouTube, according to Google statistics.
“Our revenue is a function of people’s engagement,” Shehahi said. “The more that they engage on our platforms, the more that advertisers want to be able to reach those that are engaging. That’s what driving our revenue.”
The data also shows that in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, viewing of sports videos goes up 22 percent, travel videos by 30 percent and action games, simulation and video games by between 10 and 20 percent.
Viewership of religious content on YouTube was found to rise 27 percent.
“To us, YouTube brings people together,” Joyze Baz, Google’s MENA head of communications was quoted as saying. “We see a lot of people wanting to watch things together.”
Follow us on
