Despite the growth of online advertising worldwide, Arab websites face challenges in attracting ads mainly because of the low number of online users and a lack of trust from big-name advertisers, writes Reuters. Arab internet adspend has grown from less than $250,000 in 1999 to the $7-$10 million expected in 2005, according to online advertising agency NetAdvantage's managing director, Mustafa Mohamed, based in the United Arab Emirates.

That's miniscule compared with total adspend in the Arab world - including TV and newspapers - estimated at $2.3 billion in 2005, and it's just a tiny fraction of the global online market. Mohamed expects Arab online adspend to reach $12-$17 million in 2006.

Mohamed, whose company sells ads on several portals, including news channel www.aljazeera.net and www.maktoob.com, the region's biggest email provider, said "multinational firms still do not properly recognize the internet as a medium for advertising in the Arab world."

That's likely because only 17.2 million of the Arab world's 280 million people use the internet. To attract advertising, Arab websites offer CPM of $15-$25 compared with $55-$75 in the U.S., according to Mohamed said, and that results in low revenues.

According to Alexa, among the top 500 websites worldwide only five are Arab, including the online edition of Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper, maktoob.com and aljazeera.net.