Google Cutting Funds to Illegal Websites Opens New Possibilities for the Digital Music Industry in MENA

Last week The Telegraph reported that Google was intending to take drastic action to cut piracy. To tackle the problem at the source, the tech giant announced that it would address payment companies such as Paypal, Visa and Mastercard, and ask them to stop providing payment processing facilities for illegal websites. This initiative is part of a global plan by Google which also includes mass banning of AdWords advertisers on pirate sites.

According to the English newspaper  “Executives want to stop websites, more or less dedicated to offering links to pirated films, music and books, from making money out of the illegal material. These plans, still in discussion, would also block funding to websites that do not respond to legal challenges, for example because they are offshore.”

In a region like MENA, where piracy accounts for the vast majority of online music consumption, these actions could have ground breaking effects.

How Much Do Facebook Fans Cost in the Middle East? [Updated with Infographic]

What’s the cheapest place to acquire a Facebook fan? According to a recent study by The Online Project (TOP), that would be Egypt with $0.16 per user bill. Qatar dwellers on the other hand proved the most expensive averaging $0.45.

The study, which compiled data from campaigns TOP has worked on over the past year across 8 different industries: Telecom, Consumer Goods, Automotives, Airlines, Electronics, Fashion, Banking and Finance and Public Figures; roughly concludes that the airlines, telecom and consumer goods industries have a relatively low per fan cost in the studied countries; the electronics and fashion industries on the other hand have a higher average cost; while public figures boast the lowest average cost per fan in most countries, mainly due to the fact that “people like to click on ads that contain a picture of a person, and if the face is recognizable, then it is more likely to get clicks.”

The pending status of Gmail Labs

Most of us are Gmail users, but how many times do we think about new features that “will just” enhance our emailing experience?

Gmail Labs are available to serve this need, however they’re rarely used. Actually, lots of avid Gmail users don’t know about them.

Although Google decided to discontinue the Labs 2 years ago, they're still alive and kicking.

We selected a few Gmail Labs to review, in order to help you achieve a smooth emailing activity. Check them out!

Sindibad Releases Comprehensive MENA Internet & Technology Investment Report for 2010-2012

Sindibad Business, an online business portal covering entrepreneurship in the Arab world, recently released a new report that covers all investments made into the Internet and Technology sectors in the region. The report compiles information between January 2010 and end of November 2012 from published news and reports, sources from within studied companies, in addition to estimates based on market research.

It is worth taking into consideration that while the report is a valiant effort to shed light on a rather dimly lit subject, we did find some discrepancies in certain areas. Anghami for example received a 1 million dollar investment in 2012 from MEVP, the report however fails to accurately reflect this and instead indicates that Anghami acquired 50 thousand dollars. Cinemoz is another instance where the reported number seems to conflict with other sources. In any case, according to the report, from 2010 onward  the region has witnessed...