Advertising in the Middle East: what actually changes

Arabic is a layout problem, not a translation problem

Arabic runs right to left, which reverses more than the text. Navigation, form fields, progress indicators, charts and product photography with a directional reading order all need to be rebuilt rather than translated. A layout that is simply mirrored horizontally normally reads as wrong to a native speaker.

Typography adds a second layer. Arabic letterforms change shape depending on their position in a word, and the script needs different line height and spacing from Latin text to stay legible at small sizes. Headline type that works in English regularly fails in Arabic.

The practical answer is to build the creative as a template with a right-to-left variant from the start, rather than producing one master and mirroring it at the end.

Content boundaries and religious observance

Content rules in most Middle East markets are stricter than in Europe or North America, and the boundaries shift with the religious calendar. Advertising that passes without comment for most of the year can attract complaints during Ramadan.

Common restrictions cover alcohol, gambling, dating, and imagery considered immodest. Some markets also restrict the use of national symbols, flags and religious imagery in commercial contexts, which is easy to break accidentally in a design that uses them decoratively.

Ramadan is not simply a quiet period. Behaviour changes rather than stops: daytime activity falls and late-evening activity rises sharply, which argues for moving budget and changing dayparting rather than pausing campaigns.

The region is not one market

Gulf markets, the Levant and North Africa differ in language variant, purchasing power, payment infrastructure and platform penetration. A single regional campaign usually underperforms a country-level one, even where the language is shared.

Dialect matters at the level of persuasion. Modern Standard Arabic is widely understood and is the safe default for written copy, while local dialects often convert better in markets where they are used in everyday speech.

Even inside the Gulf, expatriate populations can be large enough that the language mix within one country is not uniform, which changes the creative decision within a single market.

How customers pay, and why it changes the funnel

Cash on delivery remains significant in several markets, and that changes the funnel. The conversion event is weaker, returns and refused deliveries are a real cost, and the order is not final until the parcel is accepted.

Local card schemes and instalment payment options are widely used, and their absence at checkout is a measurable drop-off point. Marketplaces and social commerce also take a larger share of transactions than in Europe or North America.

The consequence for advertisers is that optimising on the same conversion event as a European campaign produces misleading results. The event that matters may sit further down the funnel, or be a different event entirely.

Platform coverage and account reality

Google, Meta and TikTok all operate across the region, but coverage, feature availability and pricing differ by country, and features often reach one market before another. Assuming a feature is available region-wide is a common planning mistake.

Account setup differs as well. Verification requirements, accepted business documents and payment methods vary, and some markets need additional steps before an account can be funded and can spend.

Where a market cannot be served directly, the usual route is through a partner account, which is also how advertisers reach markets where a local billing arrangement would otherwise be required.

Local presence, licensing and representation

Some markets require a local entity, a licensed distributor or an authorised representative before commercial activity is permitted, and the requirement often differs between mainland and free-zone registration.

Advertising rules sit on top of that. Several markets require advertising content and certain commercial claims to be approved or registered, and enforcement usually lands on the specific claim rather than the campaign as a whole.

The workable approach is to establish what each market requires before it receives spend, rather than discovering it when an account or a payment is blocked.

Frequently asked questions