There’s good reason Arabic advertisements are appearing more and more on websites across the globe.

Online, the Arab language is flourishing as the English-language dominated internet slowly gives way to a new multilingual era, promising billions of new e-commerce dollars and a growing sense of electronic cultural self-identity in the Middle East.

“With more users in the MENA region connecting to the internet, businesses of all types and sizes are starting to realise the opportunity to express their brand values through the online marketing space,” said Joanne Kubba, Global Communications and Public Affairs Manager at Google, Middle East and North Africa.

“This is being driven by the growth in users coming online in recent years. Whilst Google does not reveal country specific data, we have seen an increased demand for Google AdWords,” Kubba said.

According to World Internet Statistics, latest recorded figures show that from 2000 to 2009, Arabic language on the web grew 2,297 per cent, easily ahead of Russia's 1,359 per cent.

Of the world’s total 1.8 billion web users, 60.2 million (3.3 per cent) are Arabic speaking.

The mushrooming of Arabic on the internet can be attributed in part to ambitious policies such as those advocated by the United Arab Emirates, which leads the Middle East region with 74.1 per cent internet penetration.

As many as 3.5 million of the 4.8 million residents in the UAE are online.

Since 2000, the UAE has witnessed a 384 per cent increase in internet user growth, during a financial and social renaissance that has propelled the Emirates onto the world stage.

via gulfnews : Worldwide web goes truly global with Arabic.

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