1 In February WPP and TikTok announced a global partnership. The partnership allows WPP clients to benefit from unique access and capabilities on the TikTok platform. WPP will have early access to advertising products in development, ensuring WPP and its clients remain at the forefront of innovation as TikTok further develops its suite of products for brands.
2 In March Instagram launched its popular short-form video-sharing feature, Reels, in the Middle East. The news followed the introduction of Music on Instagram Stories earlier in the month.
3 In April YouTube announced the launch of YouTube Kids in Arabic in 15 countries across the Middle East and North Africa. YouTube Kids makes it easier for families to find videos that children enjoy while offering parents easy-to-use tools to customise their family’s experience. In July the video streaming platform announced the arrival of the beta version of YouTube Shorts in the UAE, its new short-form video experience to create short, catchy videos from mobile phones. In September it announced the launch of YouTube Charts, listing the top songs and artists in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE on a weekly basis.
4 In April Facebook announced a new ad solution — Dynamic Ads for Streaming — to help video streaming brands highlight their entire content library so they can showcase the right titles to the right audiences. With Dynamic Ads for Streaming, when people see an ad of any service in their feed, they can swipe through the ad to see personalised, relevant titles they might be interested in, based on interests they’ve shown on Facebook and Instagram.
5 In May, Twitter brought Spaces to all accounts with 600 or more followers, featuring new updates based on feedback received after months of testing. In August it launched a pilot of its Shop Module, a dedicated space at the top of a profile where businesses can showcase products. In September Twitter’s tipping feature – now called Tips – launched to everyone, with more payment options to choose from, including cryptocurrencies.
6 In May Snap launched its new entertainment platform Spotlight in markets across MENA, enabling its audience of approximately 75 million users in the region to shine a light on the most entertaining Snaps created by the Snapchat community.
7 In May Twitter announced it would be rolling out its new verification application process and reviewing public applications for verification on Twitter. The latest milestone in Twitter’s plans to provide greater transparency, credibility and clarity to verification on Twitter, the announcement followed the development and launch of a new policy shaped by public feedback in Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese.
8 In June, Google introduced a suite of new features with an emphasis on shoppable content. One such tool, Product Feeds, allow advertisers to link products to an existing video or image ad campaign on YouTube. Product feeds can also air during skippable video ads adjacent to or underneath the video.
9 In August TikTok announced its partnership with Shopify in the region, which will help thousands of merchants create and run campaigns directly geared towards TikTok’s highly engaged community. In a global study, 88 per cent of TikTok users said they discover new content that they enjoy while using the app, and about half of users said they discover new products through advertisements posted by a product or brand.
10 In October Snap launched its in-app mental health portal, ‘Here for You’, in the UAE in partnership with the UAE Digital Wellbeing Council to enhance the digital wellbeing of individuals and communities in general. ‘Here for You’ is a platform that provides proactive support to Snapchatters who may be experiencing mental health or emotional crisis, or who may be curious to learn more about such issues.
