Yahoo acquires Maktoob Research and parent

Tamara Deprez, Maktoob Research’s general manager, said: “The combination of Maktoob Research and Yahoo is a revolutionary step for the marketing research industry and will take online research in the Middle East and North Africa region to a whole new level.

“For research partners all over the world, this will mean unprecedented reach to Arab consumers. Thanks to Yahoo’s 20 million users in our region, our consumer panel, which is already the largest in the Arab world, will now get much bigger, enabling us to garner insights on key consumer segments more quickly and effectively.”

Deprez (pictured) told Research that the firm plans to recruit new panel members through banner ads on Yahoo sites once the deal has been completed, which is expected to be in the fourth quarter of this year. She said that the focus would be on strengthening its largest panels, such as those for the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, as well as beefing up the smaller ones in Jordan, Kuwait, Yemen and Qatar.

The Maktoob acquisition is part of Yahoo’s strategy to grow in emerging markets by providing content and services in local languages. Maktoob’s general manager, Ahmed Nassef, will remain in position once the deal is complete and the online community becomes a Yahoo subsidiary.

Yahoo’s senior vice president of emerging markets Keith Nilsson said: “We see great growth potential in both audience and advertising in the Arab world and combining with Maktoob.com will allow us to quickly build our presence there with high quality products. This is a big win for publishers, advertisers and consumers in the region.”