Local and regional publishers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) face considerable pressure to remain profitable while competing against well-funded Western big tech players and publishers that dominate social and search platforms. According to findings from a 2025 survey on digital advertising in MENA, search and social ad spend accounts for some 90% of advertising budgets. Consequently, there is little budget remaining for digital inventory from local publishers in emerging channels, such as connected TV (CTV), digital out-of-home (DOOH), and digital audio. Compounding the problem further, local and regional publishers in MENA delayed strategic investments in scaling their digital inventory, building key data partnerships, and upgrading internal sales teams. Altman Solon’s recent study for IAB MENA on digital ad investment found that ad buyers are increasingly interested in diversifying spend across a broader set of digital channels. This represents a major opportunity for MENA publishers to monetize their audiences in new ways than ever before.
Local and regional digital publishers in MENA should invest now to secure long-term sustainability and growth by following three interconnected strategic pathways: collaboration, investment in digital, and building a strong publisher brand.
Pathway 1: Collaborate to scale audiences
“United we stand, divided we fall.” This pathway means a shift in mindset. Digital publishers in MENA need to move beyond isolation and into unified partner structures. Together, through a combination of in-house and third-party solutions, they can begin to scale their audiences, aggregate, and leverage a mix of content and transaction-level data, and cross-sell inventory. This will be critical for MENA digital publishers to capture a larger share of the regional and local ad wallet.
Collaboration with competitors or “co-opetition”
Active collaboration with peers (who previously were seen only as competitors) can scale audience reach and increase digital ad supply. By working together, publishers can create a premium offering that attracts larger advertisers with greater ad spend. Pooled ad inventory allows regional players to compete against the scale of international tech platforms and counter those platforms in scaled data sets that enable greater accuracy for media buying decisions.
Leverage local networks
MENA digital publishers should seek out partners with a strong regional presence whose audiences, data sets, and ad supply portfolios naturally complement their own. By exploring opportunities to aggregate ad supply with smaller local and regional publishers, as well as telecom companies, they can increase their value to ad buyers and advertisers while maintaining their unique brand identity. Although telecoms are investing in their own inventory, many still lack sufficient scale. However, they possess valuable first-party data on connectivity and user consumption patterns, making them important partners for improving the accuracy of audience profiles and attribution.
Establish data frameworks
Altman Solon’s recent study showed that MENA ad buyers and advertisers highly value access to quality data. They are also willing to pay higher CPMs and invest in publisher inventory that supports addressability.
With data-backed audience segmentation critical for success, MENA digital publishers also need access to cross-partner data. Such data sharing must be within privacy-compliant frameworks that respect MENA-specific laws. Data collaboration opens the door for publishers to build their own audience graphs and profiles, as well as attribution tools, which can prove to ad buyers and advertisers the impact of their targeted campaigns.
Case in point
In the U.K., three of the biggest broadcasters, Sky, Channel 4, and ITV, have partnered to create a joint marketplace for addressable TV. This groundbreaking initiative, set to launch in 2026, will be the first time in the U.K. that private addressable digital TV inventory is pooled, making self-service buying easy for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and effectively countering the hold of big tech on smaller advertisers. These partnerships make it easier for new advertisers – particularly SMEs, which have long favored social channels – to access premium addressable inventory in a new channel. We expect to see similar initiatives across other regions.
Pathway 2: Invest in digital sales and leverage traditional channels as a funnel
To secure their share of the expanding market, MENA digital publishers must make targeted investments as regional and local advertisers broaden their ad channel choices. Prioritizing and appropriately allocating resources to strengthen digital ad sales teams is an essential step to achieving this goal.
Enhancing talent and processes
MENA digital publishers have fallen behind their peers in other regions in evolving their sales talent and adapting sales processes to meet the rapidly changing demands of ad buyers. To address this, MENA publishers should prioritize unifying their digital and traditional sales teams, aligning supply channels, and streamlining workflows. These steps will help them develop teams with a strong understanding of digital ad purchasing and campaign management across multiple channels.
This evolution is especially important because advertisers and ad buyers in the region have limited experience with non-social digital channels, as highlighted by our recent study. For publishers, building sales teams with deep expertise and operational efficiency is crucial. Well-trained teams can clearly communicate the value of digital inventory and effectively justify higher CPMs, demonstrating why advertisers should pay more than they might for inventory on other platforms.
A linear-to-digital funnel strategy
Legacy publishers in MENA should view their traditional, non-digital assets as a strategic advantage. By leveraging traditional channels, like linear, as a funnel to drive audiences to more data-rich digital channels that can command higher CPMs and potentially generate subscription revenue, publishers can turn legacy channels into a savvy marketing tool. This tactic is already having success in various markets across broadcast TV, radio, and cable TV spaces. For example, U.S. broadcaster NBC utilized its linear networks to promote its digital video platform, Peacock, through a combination of marketing and content windowing strategies, enriching the digital value proposition for both audiences and advertisers.
Case in point
Univision, a legacy linear broadcast player that is a household name in U.S. Hispanic households and in Latin America, had long rested on its television laurels, under-investing in digital inventory, measurement, sales, and processes. In 2022, following a merger with Mexico's Grupo Televisa, the newly formed TelevisaUnivision, unified its ad inventory and sales capabilities, invested in digital native talent for its sales leadership, launched the streaming platform ViX, and even developed a short-form content production studio to diversify revenue and become a one-stop shop for total video.
Pathway 3: Build a strong, differentiated publisher brand
A strong, trusted brand rooted in decades of local and regional audience insights and advertiser relationships means market relevance. However, MENA digital publishers have historically underinvested in developing their own brands and creating curated value propositions for advertisers. Luckily, there are many opportunities for improvement.
Localized insights as a brand differentiator
A strong publisher brand is built on a unique value proposition. Factors such as audience reach and insights, diversity of ad formats, and a mix of addressable ad products that can enhance the perceived value for CPM spend are paramount. Publishers should invest in educating advertisers and ad buyers while promoting their brands. Given that many advertisers in the region have limited experience with media investments beyond social media and search channels, there is ample opportunity for publishers to position themselves as authoritative guides on audience insights and the broader range of available channels.
Regional scalability
Digital publishers should highlight their key brand distinction as the ability to offer access to scaled audiences, which may span multiple markets, and also include diaspora audiences in Tier 1 markets. Supply partnerships with third-party providers should be marketed as networks of high-value audiences that align with the quality of content and data insights.
Case in point
The legacy European TV and radio broadcaster RTL faced fragmented markets with differing measurement standards across different countries, making cross-market buys complicated. In 2022, they created AdAlliance, an international sales house with over 350 publisher partners across 10 European countries. AdAlliance owns and aggregates local datasets, making it the most scaled way to buy TV and radio across Europe. What's more, they are positioned as market educators, publishing insights and making accessible broad proprietary data sets that help advertisers and ad buyers build confidence in AdAlliance's supply and publisher brand reputation.
Bottom line
Success for MENA digital publishers is achievable through the simultaneous execution of these three strategies. The focus shifts from simply surviving to sustaining and growing their share of the regional ad wallet. This unified approach, combining collaborative scaling, optimized investment, and diversification for strength, is the blueprint for thriving in the competitive digital media landscape.
You can also read related expert opinions on MENA digital publishing with Altman Solon’s analysis of Digital Ad Growth in Middle East, North Africa conducted in collaboration with IAB MENA.
