Rumor: Joob.com shutdown?
We got wind of some chatter that Joob is shutting down, the reasons are still unclear but it seems they’re financial. Joob, a company owned by the Jabbar Internet Group launched in April 2011 in the UAE and has been in Beta ever since. For those of you who haven’t heard of Joob (which is maybe why they’re shutting down in the first place) its described on the Jabbar website as: “Joob.com is an innovative online travel resource,... Read More
CareZone: The #MENA’s first mobile platform with a heart
A new application from Dubai is looking to give consumers a way to feel good about their purchases. The application which is developed by the Dubai based Innoventa, a leading provider of integrated solutions in management and marketing focusing mainly on the internet and mobile spaces, was recently launched and is a great and simple idea for people to shop, get rewards and help a cause. CareZone has a neat design and is easy to use. It is basically... Read More
Exclusive 20% Discount on Total Marketing Summit 2011 For All Interactive ME readers
Mark your calendar for The Total Marketing Summit 2011, this conference will be held in The Address Dubai Mall in Dubai, UAE between the 20 – 23 November. The summit which addresses marketing strategies that meet the growing needs of the increasingly integrated marketing responsibilities that marketers face today. The list of speakers at the summit is impressive with speakers from companies including: Coca Cola, EMI Group, Ducab, Red Bull,... Read More
Grosper: A new group buying website in the #UAE with a twist
Last week I met with a group of very ambitious young guys in Dubai who are working on a independently funded startup called Grosper. I know what you’re thinking why would users choose Grosper over any of the existing websites such as gonabit, cobone, etc… I asked the Co-founder of the one month old startup the same question and he had a good answer “Grosper is a group buying website that has a different twist to it. It doesn’t... Read More
Price Finder: A new way to shop for insurance in the #UAE
Back in April we covered Democamp Dubai and one of the demos that caught my attention was Pricefinder which is a comprehensive insurance comparison website. Initially the demo displayed was functional however the design was still not there. That’s not the issue anymore, they have completely revamped the design and now are in the final stages of testing and should go live to the public within a week or two. I had a chance to meet with one of... Read More
Confirmed: Gonabit acquired by Livingsocial?
Rumor has it that Living social, the international brand and social buying company headquartered in Washington, D.C. has finalized a deal with Gonabit, the oldest group buying website in the Middle East backed by Bayt.com. The deal is still unconfirmed, but if what I heard is true than Gonabit looks to be selling somewhere between 40 – 60% stake in the company for a price tag in the region of USD$15 – 20 Million. Not bad for a company... Read More
Reminder for the Government Social Media Conference Tomorrow
With all the talk about the second release of the Arab Social Media report prepared by the Dubai School of Government to be released soon, it is likely that we will get more information and numbers tomorrow. If you haven’t registered yet you can do so on the Government Social Media Conference registration page, but hurry because the event will be carried out tomorrow June 7 till the 8th in Al Murooj Rotana, Dubai. Read More
The Arab Social Media Report: A Report from the Dubai School of Government.
This week, I was at the Marcus Evans Middle East Social Media and Marketing Event as part of team InteractiveMe.com. The event was enjoyable, the speakers were well-informed and the attendees were wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Stay tuned to the site, as we’ll be posting highlights, video and commentary on the use of Social Media as a tool for Brand Awareness and marketing. As a Digital Consultant, one of my jobs is to provide... Read More
1 on 1 with Mishaal AlGergawi UAE’s Social Media Expert (Part 2 of 2):
This article is a continuation of the discussion held here in part 1 With Mishaal AlGergawi, and is sponsored by the Government Social Media Conference (@govsmc) taking place in Dubai on June 7th – 8th. After discussing how Mishaal felt about his personal experiences with Twitter we then moved on to discuss the state of Social Media in the region and especially in the government sector. I asked him whether if he thought social media was on the... Read More
15% discount on Econsultancy training courses in #Dubai
It’s been busy here in Dubai, just yesterday we were covering a social media conference and after talking to almost everybody at the conference I must admit only a small number of people found it beneficial but I can say there was a bigger number still not convinced and were still looking for more help with social media (we will cover that in a later article) but if you plan or would like some of your friends (Ahem… clients) to receive... Read More
The Best Online Stores in the UAE
I spend hours online everyday testing the boundaries of the internet, making millions of conscious and unconscious impressions. Each time I find an unknown digital gem, the nerdy kid inside me giggles as I share it with my social network. It’s like finding little presents – uncovering precious needles in an ever-expanding haystack. I realize that most people do not share my geeky joy (my clients definitely do not), so to them I often... Read More
The rise of Mobile in the MENA
Last week we posted an article about some interesting information released by Effective Measure regarding mobile internet consumption in the MENA region. Apparently brands in the region have noticed this trend and have started reacting to this consumer need by producing either mobile apps or mobile websites to connect with users on the go. The latest company to do so is Dubizzle, they have launched their mobile website dubai.dubizzle.com/m earlier... Read More
VoilaDubai: A new discovery & sharing engine in Dubai
Last week I came across a new startup from Dubai, called VoilaDubai, it was a neat looking website and had some interesting content but you could tell that it was either recently launched or not well managed. So I decided to get in touch with them to see what was going on and it turns out that the site had just recently launched, and I’d say that the website is managed pretty well just from the level of responsiveness I got from Farah... Read More
Dont forget the Middle East Social Media Marketing Conference on May 29
It’s almost here the Middle East Social Media Marketing Conference organized by marcusevans will be held next Sunday 29 – 30 May at the Hyatt Regency Dubai Hotel, Dubai, UAE. We have already talked to two of the experts that will be present at the conference, but there will be many more who will share their knowledge and provide a local insight. Take a look at the list below: Ibrahim Elbadawi, Strategic Planning Specialist – Emirates... Read More
Meet the Geek: Osama Romoh
We’ve had the pleasure of meeting Osama Romoh (@osamaromoh), who is a prominent Jordanian Blogger at osamaa.com with over 1,800+ Followers on twitter and with more than 13,900K likes on his facebook page. Osama now works in Dubai with Dubizzle where he is the Digital Marketing manager, we thought we’d share his wisdom with the world when it comes to Digital marketing so we sent him a couple of questions and he gracefully replied. Below... Read More
1 on 1 with Mishaal AlGergawi UAE’s Social Media Expert (Part 1 of 2):
This article is sponsored by the Government Social Media Conference (@govsmc) taking place in Dubai on June 7th – 8th. I had the pleasure of speaking with Mishaal AlGergawi for those who don’t Know Mishaal he’s twitter and social media advocate that goes by the handle @Algergawi if you’re in the UAE or follow news from the UAE on Twitter you most probably read one of his tweets or even follow him. Mishaal didn’t always like Twitter... Read More
Middle Eastern countries growth on Facebook last month
A new article released on Inside Facebook today gives an interesting look about the traffic on Facebook from the Middle Eastern countries. And although there were upto 7 countries which have gained 100,000 users in the past month there is a bit of surprising and unexpected loss of users in a couple of the major countries of the region. Below is the chart prepared by Inside Facebook, as you can see Egypt is leading the pack with 500K users as previously... Read More
Hsoub new startup Focusing on the MENA
I recently found out about a startup called Hsoub founded by group of students studying in the United Kingdom. It is an internet-advertising solution that focuses on the Middle East and North Africa, aiming to connect advertisers with publishers from the MENA. Hsoub Ads works in similar way to Google Adsense and is very simple to use with a clean user interface, it is built to help businesses to enter the MENA market by advertising in high-quality... Read More
5 free entries to attend the Government Social Media Conference
Yesterday the organizers of the Government Social Media Conference announced that they will providing 5 free entries to the conference by applying on the website here, all the request in return is for you to tell them why they should choose you. For those who aren’t aware about the prices for registering to the conference you can find that information here. There are two types of passes: One day pass for USD 999 Two Day pass to attend the... Read More
Mark your calendar for the Government Social Media Conference
On June 7-8 for the first time in the MENA a Government Social Media Conference will take place in Dubai, UAE at the Al Murooj Rotana Hotel. The conference is organized by The Business Council and after speaking with the conference manager Mr. Hijazi Natsheh he confirmed to us that this event will be the first of many with the possibility of it being occurring in different locations and not just in the UAE. When we asked Mr. Hijazi why Government... Read More
