The Saudi Arabian internet company Remal IT runs more than 20 websites, but one of them is ahead of the pack after pioneering one of the most unusual revenue models on the Arab Web.
The website, called Kammelna, has attracted 500,000 mostly Saudi users with a free online version of the popular local card game, baloot. More than 30,000 log in each day to play, and plenty of them pay US$10 (Dh36.75) a month to access a "premium" feature: cheating.
In the real world, one characteristic of a game of baloot is that players can "cheat" their opponents, throwing down one card and claiming it is another.
If no one notices, the player gets away with it, a trick that has become a skill of its own in a card game that is now a Saudi national pastime.
"In real life you can cheat, it is simple - but this is a very complex concept to implement in a computer game," said Essam al Zamel, the chief executive of Remal IT. "It is our killer feature."
Like many of the online businesses that have emerged in the kingdom, Remal has quietly built a portfolio of sites that rival some of the region's largest and best-known Web companies.
More than three million unique users visit the company's sites every month, placing it in the big league of Arab Web properties.
Maktoob, the region's largest Web portal, attracts about 20 million unique users per month. The Jordanian site was acquired by Yahoo for $164 million last year.
Central to Maktoob's high valuation was its huge number of visitors, particularly from Saudi Arabia, a consumer economy that is highly valued by regional advertisers. Maktoob captured that audience in part by acquiring a number of popular Saudi websites and integrating them into its larger portal.
Remal is working on a similar strategy and about a third of the sites in the company's portfolio have been acquired, Mr al Zamel said.
His aim is to build another Arab Web giant but he is in no hurry to sell the site to the highest bidder.
"At the end of the day everything has a price, but selling is not a goal for us - we are profitable and are having a lot of fun doing what we are doing," he said.
"We know the time will come when the Web is at the top of the news in the region - there might even be an internet bubble. And when that time comes, we'll be here."
By Tom Gara
© The National 2010
