Advertising in the Middle East

The Arab world and its media systems are not homogeneous. Countries across the Middle East and North Africa differ in ethnic and religious composition, languages, political systems, colonial histories, wealth, technological development, and state stability, and these differences have fundamentally shaped each country's advertising environment.[1] Across the region, media financing commonly combines advertising revenue with state subsidies, patronage, political financing, external funding, and private investment; commercially successful independent financing models for press, radio, and television are rare.[1]

The structural weakness of advertising markets across Arab states is rooted in several compounding factors. Most Arab print media operated on a relatively weak economic base, with small literate populations and limited incomes contributing to low newspaper sales, and advertising in Arab media "has not developed very extensively."[2] Even after some Arab states and individuals became wealthy during the second half of the twentieth century, advertising remained modest, partly because businesspeople did not view media as a lucrative investment, and because price and literacy continued to constrain newspaper circulation.[2] For electronic media, government ownership was the norm: commercial advertising, especially in radio and television, was relatively limited, and advertising revenues generally did not cover operating costs, making broadcasting unattractive to purely commercial investors.[3]

State control of advertising allocation has further distorted markets across the region. Government advertising and subsidies can be used to secure media loyalty, and a genuine advertising market governed by accountable rule of law is identified as a necessary condition for a more autonomous and sustainable media environment.[1] In conflict-affected or economically fragile countries, media outlets turn instead to foreign donors, political factions, militias, wealthy patrons, or expatriate funding — arrangements that make editorial priorities dependent on funders' political preferences rather than audience revenue.[1]

Arab radio broadcasting began in the 1920s, though only a few Arab countries had stations before World War II.[3] Egypt was an early leader: private commercial radio broadcasting began there in the 1920s, but the government nationalized radio into a monopoly in 1947.[3] By the 1970s, Egyptian radio had grown to 14 broadcast services — including six directed at foreign audiences — more than 4,500 employees, and 1,200 hours of weekly airtime, placing Egypt third in the world among radio broadcasters at that time.[3] After 1945, most Arab states established national radio systems; Oman's opening of radio transmissions in 1970 marked the point at which every Arab country had its own radio station.[3]

Indigenous television broadcasting in the Arab world began in Iraq and Lebanon in the late 1950s. Thirteen other Arab countries followed during the 1960s, and all Arab states had television stations by 1975, when North Yemen inaugurated its service.[3] Before indigenous systems developed, some audiences watched foreign broadcasts, including French television in parts of the Maghreb, U.S. military television near Libya's Wheelus base, and U.S. programming transmitted by ARAMCO in eastern Saudi Arabia.[3]

Arab satellite television transformed the regional advertising environment during the 1990s. Saudi investors established Middle East Broadcasting (MBC) in 1991 as the first private Arab satellite station aimed primarily at a pan-Arab audience; MBC was free-to-air and carried advertising to cover at least part of its costs.[3] In 1994, Saudi investors established the Arab Radio and Television Network and Orbit, both of which operated as fee-based subscription services.[3] Although satellite broadcasters were nominally private, most operated under some degree of government influence through legal constraints, financial dependence, or personal connections between owners and government officials.[3] Qatar subsidized the launch of the nominally private satellite station Al-Jazeera during the same decade.[3]

In Mandatory Palestine, organized advertising was limited. Benjamin Levinson established the first advertising agency in Jerusalem in 1922, followed by a small number of practitioners; several more modern agencies were established by newcomers from Germany between 1933 and 1939.[4] Large-scale advertising in what became Israel began after rapid industrial growth and the creation of a consumer market, particularly following the Sinai Campaign in 1956.[4] The Israel Advertising Association was established as early as 1934.[4]

In Egypt, scholars have examined the colonial and interwar period through the lens of advertising itself. Cigarette advertisements from Egypt between 1919 and 1939 have been studied as sources of historical ethnography, on the argument that advertisements preserve the cultural repertoire of their intended audiences.[5] Those advertisements encoded a precise social hierarchy: cigars were associated with elite and modern consumption, water-pipes with a lower-class and traditional lifestyle, and cigarettes with a new social stratum — the effendiya — attempting to be modern while remaining authentically local.[5] Women's smoking was portrayed as a "veiled" activity permissible publicly only under male tutelage, and youth was not openly promoted as a distinct consumer category because smoking was associated with adult power and the notion of youth as a consumerist category remained socially contested.[5]

A 1998 study described advertising as less developed in the Arab world than in Southeast Asia and Latin America, and noted that annual advertising expenditures across the entire Arab world barely exceeded those of Israel alone — $900 million compared with $800 million in 1994.[6] The study nevertheless characterized the Arab market as growing, with the total Arab advertising market rising from $1.13 billion in 1995 to $1.54 billion in 1997.[6][7]

Satellite television drove much of this growth. Pan-Arab television advertising grew by 96 percent in 1997, reaching $202 million, while advertising in pan-Arab magazines increased by 36 percent between 1995 and 1997, and newspaper advertising increased by 14 percent over the same period.[6] Regional satellite television advertising at the time was estimated at $90 million, with approximately 70 percent divided among MBC, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), and Future Television.[6]

The study identified prominent brands active in regional Arab media and Gulf Cooperation Council markets. Pampers was the most-advertised television brand, followed by Pantene; Toyota led newspaper advertising spending, while Marlboro led magazine spending.[6] Other prominent advertisers included Nissan, BMW, Hyundai, Ford, and Chevrolet.[6] On pan-Arab television, adult personal-hygiene and health products were the leading product category, followed by shampoos and other hair products, and then candy and snacks.[6]

Satellite broadcasters relied on two principal income sources: advertising revenue and subscription fees.[6] Free-to-air operators depended primarily on advertising; some stations increasingly encoded transmissions and sold decoder boxes to subscribers.[6] LBC generated approximately $45 million in annual revenue, divided roughly equally between terrestrial and satellite operations, while MBC's annual advertising revenue was estimated at $27 million; few regional broadcasters could break even on advertising revenue alone.[6]

Saudi Arabia was especially important to the regional advertising economy. Of the Arabic newspaper al-Hayat's reported $13 million in advertising revenue in 1994, $12.5 million came from Saudi sources; al-Hayat's former editor was quoted as saying the paper could not survive without the Saudi market.[6] This financial dependence was linked to editorial self-censorship and to the influence of Saudi social and religious sensitivities on regional media content.[6]

Al-Jazeera's advertising economics illustrate a broader regional pattern in which editorial independence and political controversy have deterred commercial sponsors. Advertising revenue covered only 35 to 40 percent of the network's operating expenses, leaving it mostly dependent on Qatari state financing of roughly $100 million annually, following an initial grant of $137 million from Qatar's emir.[8] Observers estimated that Al-Jazeera carried approximately 40 to 45 minutes of advertising per day.[8]

The network's difficulty attracting commercial advertising was attributed to unfavorable Middle Eastern market conditions, competition from several Arab satellite channels, uncertainty surrounding Iraq, and the hesitation of Arab conglomerates to advertise due to concerns that the network's relationships with Arab governments could damage their business interests.[8] Controversial programming was itself identified as a deterrent to advertisers, although U.S. companies including General Motors, Gillette, and Procter & Gamble had advertised on the network.[8]

The intersection of geopolitics and advertising also appeared in U.S. government efforts to use the regional media environment for public diplomacy. A U.S. State Department program spent $15 million on television advertisements depicting American Muslims; the advertisements ran for five weeks in Pakistan, Kuwait, Malaysia, and on some pan-Arab channels, but not on Al-Jazeera.[8] The State Department discontinued the campaign after the governments of Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon refused to carry the commercials on state-run television.[8]

The case of al-Manar, the television station operated by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization, illustrates how ideological and religious constraints have shaped advertising relationships in the region. Al-Manar received corporate advertising income from Lebanese and Western companies, but approximately 90 percent of potential clients were reportedly rejected for religious reasons, including objections to the use of women as a temptation in advertising.[7] To manage its commercial relationships, the station created its own advertising company, Media-Publi Management, which reportedly worked with more than 35 advertising firms, including Saatchi and Saatchi.[7] As of 2003, commercial advertisements were broadcast terrestrially but not on the station's satellite service.[7]

Despite these restrictions, al-Manar attracted prominent multinational advertisers. Officials said that the station's largest American commercial advertisers in July 2002 included Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Western Union; other named sponsors included Milka, Ariel, Nido, Maggi Cubes, Smeds cheese and butter, Picon cheese, Red Bull, Gauloises, and Henkel's Der General detergent.[7] After an opinion article in the Los Angeles Times exposed the companies' advertising presence on a Hezbollah-linked platform, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Western Union discontinued their advertising; European companies continued to advertise.[7] In total, the four withdrawing corporations were reported to have pulled nearly $2 million in annual advertising from the station.[9]

Al-Manar's annual budget was approximately $15 million, and station officials described it as unprofitable, with losses covered by investors characterized as having political rather than financial interests.[7] Advertising income was secondary to its finances; donations and reported Iranian support served as additional funding sources.[7] At its height, al-Manar reached an estimated 10 million to 15 million viewers per day through around-the-clock programming across approximately 12 satellite providers.[9]

Advertising markets have developed unevenly across individual Arab states, reflecting differences in wealth, political structure, and media ownership.

United Arab Emirates. The UAE has emerged as the region's most commercially developed media hub. By mid-2019, UAE onshore media included 23 television channels, 30 radio stations, 15 newspapers, 5 magazines, and 9 website portals, with government-owned or subsidized organizations also receiving commercial income from advertising, subscriptions, and sponsorships.[1] Dubai Media City, launched in January 2001, hosted approximately 1,500 companies and more than 25,000 workers from 142 nationalities by June 2019, offering investors 100 percent foreign ownership, full repatriation of profits and capital, and exemptions from personal, income, and corporate taxes for 50 years.[1] UAE television advertising expenditure was estimated at $14 million in 2016; television had the highest weekly reach across age groups, while among millennials the internet ranked as the second most-used medium, and radio ranked second among consumers aged 35 and older.[1] The UAE's advertising environment is governed by the 1980 Press and Publications Law, the 2018 Electronic Media Regulation, National Media Council content standards, and advertising licensing requirements; an updated official advertising guide introduced in October 2018 clarified industry standards and licensing terms.[1]

Lebanon. Lebanon's advertising market is described as saturated and too small to sustain its numerous media outlets, which operate with low subscription and circulation rates.[1] Following the economic crisis that began in 2019, advertising expenditure was cut by approximately 70 to 90 percent in 2020, forcing many outlets to rely on political subsidies or foreign financial support; several newspapers and television stations closed or suspended print operations.[1]

Jordan. Advertising expenditure in Jordan was reported at $220 million in 2018, modest compared with spending in neighboring oil-producing countries.[1] The media economy was weakened by declining newspaper advertising revenue, failure to adapt to digital publishing, weak copyright enforcement, and competition from Google and Facebook, which dominated the limited advertising market available to local media.[1]

Morocco. Morocco's advertising market totaled $596 million in 2017, with approximately 70 to 80 percent of Moroccan advertisers using global platforms such as Google and Facebook.[1] A 5 percent tax on digital advertising was imposed in 2018; advertising revenue was distributed according to political proximity rather than transparent professional criteria.[1]

Algeria. The Algerian state controlled nearly 85 percent of the advertising market through the National Publishing and Advertising Company.[1] Government advertising was a major source of newspaper revenue: advertising represented 50 percent of El-Khabar's total income and 30 percent of El-Watan's.[1] The market grew from approximately €19 million in 1999 to €200 million in 2016, though advertising distribution was described as not governed by normal market logic.[1]

Kuwait. Advertising is the main revenue source for Kuwaiti newspapers, but it has declined as readership falls, advertisers shift spending to social media, and influencer endorsements attract budgets previously allocated to print.[1] Private radio emerged in Kuwait in 2005 and private television was permitted in 2004, increasing competition for advertising spending.[1]

Syria. The collapse in living standards, armed conflict, sanctions, and capital flight — including a more than 70 percent decline in the economy since 2011 — severely restricted advertising for Syrian media outlets.[1] Media in regime-controlled, opposition, and Kurdish spheres consequently depended on outside funding from foreign governments, development organizations, and wealthy patrons, making editorial priorities dependent on backers' political agendas.[1]

Israel developed a Western-style advertising industry from the mid-twentieth century onward. Following the establishment of the first advertising agency in Jerusalem in 1922 and an influx of professionally trained practitioners from Germany in the 1930s, large-scale advertising expanded alongside Israeli industry and a growing consumer market after 1956.[4] By 2003, newspapers received 53 percent of Israeli advertising revenues, totaling $293 million; television received 33 percent, radio 7 percent, and internet advertising 2 percent.[4]

Israeli advertising is described as comparable in method and pervasiveness to advertising in other Western-style consumer societies.[4] The legal framework combines statutory requirements with ethical norms: advertising legislation requires honest disclosure, while lawmakers generally refrain from intervening in fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, free trade, and freedom of contract.[10] Courts apply moral considerations in cases involving advertising, but moral responsibility is distinguished from legal compliance.[10] A ten-point ethical treatise for Israeli advertisers exists but is neither a complete statement of advertising ethics nor legally binding; consumers seeking remedies for misleading advertising may need to rely on civil actions grounded in moral and ethical rules, given the absence of sufficient public-law sanctions.[10]

Israel's broadcasting system evolved from a government-controlled structure toward a mixed public-commercial model.[11] Public broadcasting began in 1965 with the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), which was funded through a combination of a television-set licence fee, a levy on cars, public-service announcements, television underwriting, and radio advertising — with approximately 20 percent of its revenue coming from advertising.[12][11] Commercial television and regional radio were funded through advertising, while cable television relied on user fees.[11] Broadcast media also operated in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.[13]

The Second Television and Radio Authority, established by law in 1993, supervised commercially funded broadcasters including the Second Television Channel and regional radio stations whose funding came entirely from advertisements.[11] Television broadcasts began in the late 1960s; Israel Television remained the only station until the early 1990s, the first commercial station began broadcasting in 1994, and a second commercial station followed in 2002.[14] In 2014, the law establishing the IBA was repealed; the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation replaced it, relying mostly on government funding collected through a car levy after the licence fee was eliminated.[12]

Israeli advertising expenditure increased by approximately 21.5 percent in nominal terms between 2008 and 2022, a period during which nominal GDP grew by approximately 123 percent.[15] As a result, advertising expenditure fell from 0.49 percent of GDP in 2008 to approximately 0.27 percent in 2022, compared with a reported global average of 0.83 percent — a ratio described as low relative to countries with similar or lower GDP per capita.[15]

The structure of the Israeli advertising market has shifted substantially toward digital channels. In 2017, television accounted for 37 percent of advertising expenditure, internet advertising 33 percent, print 16 percent, billboards 7 percent, radio 6 percent, and cinema 1 percent.[16] Between 2014 and 2017, internet advertising expenditure increased by approximately 62 percent while print advertising expenditure declined by approximately 27 percent; television's share fell from 41 percent to 37 percent while its absolute spending remained nearly unchanged.[16]

By 2023, digital advertising represented approximately 54 percent of the total Israeli advertising market, television approximately 34 percent, outdoor advertising approximately 5 percent, radio approximately 5 percent, and print media approximately 2 percent.[15] Digital advertising has grown mainly at the expense of print, and some digital spending is directed abroad, meaning it does not support domestic media outlets.[15]

The market's structure involves advertisers, advertising agencies, media-buying companies, and media outlets operating in sequence: setting a budget, developing a strategy and creative content, purchasing airtime or space through a media-buying company, and placing advertising with media owners.[15] More than 75 percent of commercial television channels' advertising revenue came through large media-buying companies, according to a 2019 Competition Authority review.[15]

Government advertising constitutes a significant segment of the market. In 2017, Israel's Government Advertising Agency spent NIS 212 million across media: NIS 69 million on television, NIS 56 million on print, NIS 48 million on digital, NIS 28 million on billboards, NIS 9 million on radio, and NIS 2 million on cinema.[16] Of the agency's online advertising spending, Google accounted for 46.6 percent and Facebook for 15.5 percent; including Instagram, approximately 64 percent of online government advertising spending went to Google and Facebook-related platforms.[16]

Israeli election advertising operates under a distinctive state-funded broadcast system that prohibits the purchase of commercial airtime for electoral purposes. Television election broadcasts begin 21 days before elections, are provided free of charge on both television and radio, and cannot be supplemented with purchased commercial slots.[17] Each party receives seven basic television minutes plus two minutes per former Knesset member, while each party list receives 15 basic radio minutes plus four minutes per outgoing Knesset member.[17]

Additional rules restrict printed advertising and prohibit the use of children under 15 in campaign materials, the use of IDF imagery to imply military support for a party, and the use of names or images of terrorism victims without permission.[17] The system reflects a broader Israeli regulatory approach that balances freedom of expression with specific protections against manipulative or abusive advertising practices.[10]

Israel has used advertising as a strategic tool to attract international visitors, including from markets that have historically been diplomatically or politically distant. In 2010, Israel's Tourism Ministry launched a campaign with a budget exceeding NIS 34 million (approximately $9.1 million) targeting tourists from the United States, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, England, Sweden, and the Netherlands.[18] The campaign presented Israel as a diverse destination centered on Jerusalem and promoted religious, historical, cultural, wine, culinary, spa, and extreme-sports tourism across print, outdoor, radio, television, internet, social media, and tourism magazines, alongside public-relations activity and travel-agent recruitment.[18]

Following the Abraham Accords, Israel's Tourism Ministry prepared advertising and marketing aimed at Muslim and Arab tourists from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco, with particular emphasis on the UAE given its estimated market potential.[19] Planned adaptations included Arabic-language explanations, content more relevant to Muslim visitors, staff training about Islam, and cultural guidance for handling Emirati tourists.[19] The strategy positioned Jerusalem and Muslim religious sites as central attractions — including the al-Aqsa Mosque, the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, the White Mosque in Ramla, and Mamluk architecture in Jerusalem's Old City — alongside Tel Aviv's innovation and business environment, Israeli food, landscapes, history, and medical-tourism services.[19] UAE travel agencies were already selling Israel travel packages at the time, and hundreds of Israeli and Emirati tourism officials participated in planning discussions.[19]

Digital advertising infrastructure across the Middle East has been exploited for political influence operations. In 2019, Facebook removed more than 350 accounts and pages with approximately 1.4 million followers that it linked to individuals associated with the Saudi government.[20] The operation used Facebook and Instagram, primarily targeting countries in the Middle East and North Africa including Qatar, the UAE, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority, using fake accounts posing as local citizens and pages designed to resemble local news outlets.[20] Facebook reported that more than $100,000 had been spent on advertisements, with posts typically in Arabic covering regional political issues, Mohammed bin Salman's reform program, Saudi military claims, and the war in Yemen.[20]

Such operations illustrate a broader regional pattern in which advertising budgets — even relatively modest ones — have been directed toward shaping political perception rather than selling consumer products. The use of paid digital placement to amplify state-aligned messaging represents an extension of the politically motivated media financing that has characterized Arab media systems more broadly.[1]

Characterizations of government advertising, subsidies, and politically connected financing as mechanisms of media influence are analytical assessments presented by the cited chapter authors and should be read as source interpretations.[1]

The financial and operational details surrounding al-Manar — including its audience size, advertiser relationships, and ties to Hezbollah and Iran — are drawn from advocacy and policy sources and should be understood as reported estimates rather than independently audited figures.[7][9] Saudi Arabia had not responded to earlier allegations concerning its social-media activity, while Facebook attributed the 2019 account operation to individuals associated with the Saudi government.[20]

The Washington Institute's 1998 market figures are historical estimates and do not reflect current advertising conditions across the Arab world. Similarly, the Congressional Research Service's account of Al-Jazeera's advertising economics dates from 2003 and should not be taken as a description of the network's current financing.[8] The UAE's reported share of GCC advertising spending contains an apparent data inconsistency in the underlying source, with conflicting unit figures that cannot be fully reconciled.[1]