| ATTN: Business
Editor / IT Editor |
For Immediate Release
Saturday, April 21st, 2001 |
| |
ONE
MILLION AND GROWING!
Maktoob.com Becomes First Arab Web Service to Reach A
Staggering One Million Registered Members
Dubai: Maktoob.com, the leading and the largest online
community in the Arab world that brought Internet users the first
free Arabic/English email service, yesterday confirmed that it has
achieved the one million membership mark.
Maktoob.com achieved its phenomenal growth in less than three
years – the company was launched in October 1998 – quickly turning
the service into the largest virtual community for Arabs online.
Beginning with offering online users the first free bilingual
Arabic / English email solution, Maktoob.com now hosts a range of
services encompassing sophisticated communications and e-commerce
solutions.
Hailing the one million in memberships as an incredible victory
for the Internet in the Arab world, Maktoob.com CEO Samih Toukan
said: “This is a tremendous vote of confidence for Maktoob.com
from online Arab users. In fact, we are excited that our website
has succeeded in achieving this distinction despite the wide
availability of free web-based email from an increasing number of
Middle Eastern portals as well as global players.”
He said that achieving the one million landmark was noteworthy,
considering that there are an estimated 3 million Internet users
in the Arab world and that Maktoob.com’s members formed one-third
of the total online Arab population. While registering more than
30 million page views per month, Maktoob.com’s membership base is
currently growing at an average rate of 3,500 new accounts per
day.
He stated that Internet users from Saudi Arabia formed the largest
bulk (18 per cent) of Maktoob.com memberships, followed by Egypt
at 14 per cent and Jordan at 10 per cent. Other Arab countries
such as the UAE, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Oman are
among the top ten of the total Maktoob population. “It is this
diversity of users that makes us unique,” explained Toukan. “We
have succeeded in uniting Arab users from all over the world by
creating an interface where they can freely express their opinions
and ideas and thus contribute to the development of the entire
community.”
Toukan also pointed out that awareness about Maktoob.com had
spread from beyond Arab countries to extend to the United States,
Canada, United Kingdom and Australia, which are among the top 20
countries from where most Maktoob members hail. “Maktoob.com
has proved to be a common bond for many Arab expatriates living in
the West who seek alternatives to stay in touch with home and
friends,” he said.
However, Toukan said that he was not taking his company’s success
for granted. “Having cultivated a strong member base, we must
now work hard to retain their loyalty,” he explained. “To
this effect, we are continuously working to improve our service
offerings and our aim is to keep Internet users in the Arab world
updated with the latest international technologies and
cutting-edge features.”
Maktoob.com’s latest achievement comes close on the heels of its
recent ranking as the leading Arab web service by two independent
surveys conduced separately, one by Alexa Research and the other
by Arabian Business.com, in association with Accenture, formerly
known as Andersen Consulting.
While the Alexa Research poll, carried out in 13 countries, found
Maktoob.com as the most popular Arab web service as viewed by a
Middle East user panel, the Arabian Business.com-Accenture Web
Index put Maktoob.com far ahead of its regional competitors with
its independent verification of the number of page impressions.
Maktoob.com achieved another landmark in April by retaining the
top spot in the Arabian Business.com-Accenture Web Index for a
third consecutive month. “The success of Maktoob.com has shown
that the Arab Internet world has fast reached maturity,”
explained Ahmed Nassef, Vice President of Marketing and Sales of
Maktoob.com. “With Maktoob.com strongly appealing to all users
from different backgrounds and nationalities, there can be little
doubt that the Middle East has established itself as an important
player in the international IT field.”
The free membership to Maktoob.com opens a world of exclusive
benefits that are available on few other websites. These include a
comprehensive WAP facility for email, a sophisticated Anti-Virus
Auto-Scan solution for both incoming and outgoing email messages,
and Maktoob Mirsal, an Instant Messaging system, while filtering
undesirable spam mail.
Maktoob.com is the first Arabic/English web-based email solutions
provider and the leading virtual community for Arabs worldwide. In
addition to the free email service, the company offers a
comprehensive range of interactive Internet-based facilities,
including live internet radio, voicemail, WAP, a comprehensive
business directory, Arabic music, chat, online auction and
shopping, electronic greeting cards and information services.
For further media information, please contact:
Edward D’Mello / Fares Ghneim
Headline Public Relations
Tel: 009714 – 3475006; Fax: 009714 – 3475013
e-mail:
edward@headlinepr.com or
fares@headline.org
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