Recently, our Managing Director, Johnny Huntington, who is also the Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of yAd!G.com was invited by Richard Dean of DubaiEye 103.8 Radio Channel for an exclusive interview. The interview was conducted as part of Dubai Eye’s “Launch-Pad” series, and was focused on yAd!G, the social networking phenomenon that has taken the local Internet scene by storm.   

yAd!G, as we all know, is a website which combines functionalities of local reviews and social networking to create an online community. Users can create free accounts and post reviews regarding local businesses. At present, yAd!G focuses on five specific categories of bars, hotels, restaurants, night clubs and coffee shops (more categories will be added in the future) and is designed to provide up-to-date reviews to enhance user awareness and experience. 

Since its launch, yAd!G has successfully completed the initial phases of its development, which included creation of a functionally acceptable environment along with generation of a category specific database. In December, yAd!G highlighted 2,837 individual cafes, coffee shops, restaurants, night clubs, hotels and bars in Dubai, for which it received much media attention.

As far as the business model goes, yAd!G is currently a privately funded setup. “We are actually pumping all our money, all our concerns, all our time and energies in building a really good, feasible and global system” added Johnny. The site eventually plans to move to a subscription based model, where businesses will be leveraged to pay for advertisements, special offers, and event promotions.  In return businesses will get instant feedback with regard to their audience and customer base through yAd!G’s “trend reporting dashboard”, and thus be able to amend their strategies & tactics in light of real-time customer feedback. 

Since launch yAd!G has witnessed an incremental growth of 20%-25% in its user base. The site is currently focused on expanding operations/coverage to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the rest of the MENA region, with an anticipated increase of 250,000-500,000 users by July 2011.  Shortly afterwards yAd!G plans to expand its coverage to Europe and beyond.

Listen to the full interview and learn more about yAd!G: its aims, goals, ambitions and opportunities by visiting yAdiG's blog

In terms of development 2010 was a mixed year for Hypertext Preprocessor  (PHP), the popular general-purpose scripting language. According to our analysis the three most pertinent PHP developments of 2010, are as under: 

Middle Eastis currently going through a period of a web boom. According to InternetWorld Stats, Internet penetration in Middle East currently stands at28.3% of the total population, with is considerably better than the world’saverage of 25.6%. In terms of expansion Middle East has witnessed a whopping growthof 1,825.3% in web usage in the past 10 years. The expansion of the web in theMiddle East can also be gauged by the number of Arabic websites that are mushroomingacross the web. Currently the number of people using Arabic online is placedaround 65,365,400 which represents the 7^th largest language blockonline.

The web hasnot only accelerated new forms of human interactions through e-mails, chat,instant messaging, and social networking, but it has also helped redefine andreshape the Middle Eastern economy and market in general. The revolutionhasbeen brought on by digitalization of B2B and B2C transactions,financialservices, and the advent of online shopping and supply change managementacrossindustries.

Apart fromenhancing communications and entertainment, in my view, the web has had thegreatest impact of the following fields in the Middle East, and the world ingeneral: 

Information

Most peopleuse the web to gather or transmit information. Internet enabled individuals andorganizations to transmit ideas and information to a large audience quickly andat very low costs. In essence the combination of these factors has madeinternet a virtual treasure trove of information. Almost 52% of the MiddleEastern uses use Internet to search for information. Students and children areamong the top users of Internet in this category; however the number of peopleusing Internet to search for products and services is on the rise. A trendwhich is likely to increase as Internet and computer literacy expands.

Services
In the last 10 years the web has grown to encompass almost all aspects of the serviceindustry. Banks, hotels, restaurants, airlines, car rentals, in short theentire service industry have embraced the World Wide Web in one form or theother. The predominant reason for this shift is cost. Off-line services are usuallymore costly than online offers, both for businesses and consumers alike.Businesses that use Internet as a medium of transaction save moneyon operational expenses and other office supplies, and are better connectedwith clients and customers. This trend has not been lost in the Middle East,where companies that have an internet presence are profiting at the expense oftheir not so savvy competitors.

E-Commerce
Ecommerce refers to the concept of using the web for commercial maneuvering, ortransfer of information across the globe. Ecommerce encompasses all aspects ofB2B and B2C transactions stretching across all products and services. Ecommercehas taking the world of business by a storm, and has given immense leverage tosmall firms. Individuals and small companies are now empowered to compete with largerfirms on an equal footing, all thanks to online shopping and money transfers.

In short, theweb is fast becoming the dominant tool for communication and conveying messagesacross to a large audience. Undoubted Middle Eastern companies that have the potential to grow, earn greater revenuesand save money are now opting to do a large percentage of their businessonline,a trend which is likely to remain strong in the future.   

JohnnyHuntington, ManagingDirector, Traffic Online JLT