What are users in the Arab world watching on YouTube?

YouTube’s potential for regional startups is clear: Saudi Arabia alone accounts for 190 million YouTube views a day, and other countries watch millions more. Videos on YouTube, the world’s second largest search engine, are 53 times more likely to show up on the first page of search results than written content, a recent infographic revealed. While some companies in the region, like Zaytouneh and Kharabeesh are catching on, many in the region are still neglecting video content as a marketing tool.

For those who are choosing to use YouTube as a marketing tool – and for those thinking about it – any information on what users in the region are watching on YouTube is invaluable. Luckily, a recent infographic by Startappz revealed the most popular channels and topics on YouTube in Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.

Tech and gaming, comedy, and entertainment were predictably among the most popular topics. In tech and gaming, the top five gaming YouTube channels were all from Saudi Arabia and the most-followed channel was (D7oomy999) which has 871,252 followers. In comedy, the most popular channel was also from Saudi Arabia. Eysh Elly, with 1,936,805 followers, followed by Egypt’s famous Al Bernameg program, hosted by Bassem Youssef, with 1,852,082 followers. In entertainment, the UAE stole the show with MBC Group, which has 2,460,175 followers and makes $3.7 million USD in yearly revenue from YouTube. Surprisingly, 93% of video content was in Arabic, which proves the ever-increasing potential for Arabic digital content, and 45% was between medium to high quality. For more information about other popular topics and channels in various countries, click on the infographic below.