Criteo Establishes Regional Hub in Dubai to Pursue Growth in the Middle East

By establishing a presence in Dubai, Criteostrengthens its MENA ties and continues to help regional advertisers address and convert a growing online consumer-base across multiple devices

Dubai, 27 May 2015 –Criteo (NASDAQ: CRTO), the performance marketing technology company, today announced the launch of its regional operationsin Dubai, showing the company’s commitment to the Middle East.  With the opening, the company is strengthening its position in the Middle Eastern markets and pursuing further growth in the region.  The regional hub for Criteois being headed by Dirk Henke, Managing Director for Eastern Europe and MEA. 

Criteo has been actively supporting businesses in the Middle East for the last twoyears, and has a client base that includes successful online merchants such as MarkaVIP, propertyfinder.ae and Souq.com, among others. The firm’s decision to establish a regional office, announced on the side-lines of the ArabNet Digital Summit 2015, comes in response to the growing demand for enhanced online and mobile engagement. 

According to PwC, spending on Internet advertising in the MENA region is set to grow from approximately US$707million in 2013 to US$2.46billion in 2018. This is because of the rise in fast-speed Internet connectivity, growing affluence of residents in the regionand the improving prospects of e-commerce—factors that are driving advertisers to increasingly buy online space. 

In addition, smartphone penetration rates in the Middle East are among the highest globally. Google’s Our Mobile Planet Survey reveals that smartphone penetration rates in the UAE and KSA are at 73.8% and 72.8%, respectively. Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets deliver a significant share of digital sales. Criteo numbers show that every third digital purchase in the UAE and KSA is completed through a mobile device. 

For merchants and advertisers in the digitalsector, Criteo delivers a powerful solution for performance advertisingacross multiple devices.Criteo’s self-learning algorithm engine analyses data in order to predict consumers’ purchasing behaviour and deliver dynamic display advertising that is personalised according to what individuals are likely to buy, allowing advertisers to engage and convert customers, whatever device they use.

“E-commerce in the Middle East is at an exciting crossroads. Understandably, advertisers and marketers are vying to secure a sizeable online presence, and to do so better and faster than the rest. Criteo is specially equipped to deliver these market needs,” said Dirk Henke, Managing Director for Eastern Europe and MEA at Criteo.  “We are excited to increase our regional presence with our new regional hub at a time when businesses in the Middle East are wired for positive change, and Criteolooks forward to supporting new and existing clients in implementing effective digital strategies.”

The Criteo Engine analyses more than 230 terabytes of data every day and handles 15 million requests per second with a response time of 20 milliseconds.The result is the ability to identify the consumers who are most likely to buy within a global reach of more than 1.06 billion Internet users each month, according to a March 2015 comScore MMX report.Criteo now stores more than 20 terabytes of data daily, including actual purchase behavior.

Leveraging on direct relationships with more than 10,000 publishers worldwide,Criteoalready provides this service for over 7,800advertisers across 75 countries.