In this article
Key takeaways
- There is no "Riyadh ad library": ads are counted by country. In the study window 55,533 Arabic ads from 10,548 advertiser pages ran in Saudi Arabia.
- Video is 62% of Saudi ads, but single images keep a larger share (21%) than in the UAE (16%).
- "Shop now" (36%), then "WhatsApp message" (23%), then "Order now" (20%); 22% of ads lead to a Salla store and 24% to a WhatsApp chat.
- The advertised price in riyals: a median of SAR 196, with half the prices between SAR 99 and 300; instalments in 5% of ads.
The library counts by country, not by city
In Meta's Ad Library you choose "Saudi Arabia" and see every ad shown in the kingdom: the restaurant ad targeting one district of Riyadh, the Salla store ad targeting the whole kingdom, and the Gulf seller's ad targeting Saudi Arabia together with the UAE. There is no city filter. Targeting Riyadh, Jeddah or Dammam, or a radius around a location, is a setting in the advertiser's Ads Manager, and neither the library nor any outside tool reveals it.
So we say it as it is: these are Saudi numbers. 55,533 Arabic ads from 10,548 advertiser pages ran in Saudi Arabia in the study window, more than in any other Gulf country. Of these ads, 5% also ran in the UAE, 5% in Qatar, 5% in Kuwait and 5% in Bahrain: the Saudi market is more self-contained than the UAE; most of those advertising in Riyadh and Jeddah advertise in Saudi Arabia alone. The full picture of the kingdom is in Facebook ads in Saudi Arabia.
Formats and buttons: WhatsApp and Salla are present
Video is 62% of Arabic ads shown in Saudi Arabia, single images 21% and carousels 6%. The image share in Saudi Arabia is higher than in the UAE (16%) and Kuwait (17%): a clear offer with a price and a discount on one image still works in Riyadh and Jeddah.
Buttons: "Shop now" on 36% of ads, "WhatsApp message" on 23%, "Order now" on 20% and "See details" on 4%. "Order now" is higher in Saudi Arabia than in the UAE (12%) because Salla stores use it a lot. The destination: 24% of ads end in a WhatsApp chat with no store, 22% lead to a Salla store, 8% to Shopify, 3% to Zid and 3% to LightFunnels pages. How selling from WhatsApp works in Saudi Arabia: WhatsApp ads.
What Saudi ads offer
- A discount in 35% of ads, and "limited time" and the like in 15%.
- Cash on delivery in 12%: less than the UAE (15%); in Saudi Arabia payment is agreed in a WhatsApp chat or left to the store page.
- Instalments in 5%: Tabby and Tamara are more present in Saudi ads than in the UAE (4%) and Kuwait (1%).
- Free delivery in 11% and a gift in 8%.
- WhatsApp in the copy in 10% of ads.
What sells through ads in Saudi Arabia
Fashion and shoes (10%) first, then electronics (9%), watches and accessories (8%), hair care (8%), health and supplements (8%), perfumes and incense (7%), home and furniture (7%) and skincare (6%). Abayas (3%) are a small share but the highest in the Gulf. An ad can fall in more than one category. For perfume ads in Saudi Arabia read Perfume stores in Saudi Arabia; the full list with how to choose a product is in Best sellers in Saudi Arabia.
Prices in riyals and copy length
Of 7,414 ads that stated a price in riyals: the lower quartile up to SAR 99, the median 196, the upper quartile from SAR 300. Saudi Arabia is the "two hundred riyal" market: most of what sells through direct ads sits between one and three hundred riyals, and above that it sells with instalments or a known brand.
Copy is short: half of Saudi ads are shorter than 44 words, against 67 in the UAE. The Saudi advertiser writes the offer, the price and the button and leaves the rest to the store or a WhatsApp chat. Write the offer, the price and the button, and leave the details to the store.
How to study Riyadh and Jeddah ads in GccFY
- Country "Saudi Arabia" and a word from your product, then sort by longest running: of 55,533 ads in Saudi Arabia only 413 had been running 30 days or more (<1%), and those are the ads worth studying first. Why: Ad running time.
- Search the city name in the copy: «الرياض» (Riyadh), «جدة» (Jeddah), «الدمام» (Dammam). Many advertisers write "delivery inside Riyadh within 24 hours" or "our showroom in Jeddah" in the ad text, and that is the closest you get to city numbers.
- Open the captured store page behind the ad: the price in riyals, shipping to the whole kingdom or the big cities only, Tabby and Tamara, the pixels.
- The "store type" filter: Salla or Zid for Saudi stores, WhatsApp for those selling from a chat, LightFunnels for single-product pages.
- The Advertisers screen filtered to Saudi Arabia and sorted by most ads, then read running time, not count.
When you write your own ad for Riyadh or Jeddah: name the city and delivery there in the first line, state the price in riyals, and test the store button and the WhatsApp button in two separate ads. If you hire influencers to advertise, make sure they hold a "Mawthooq" licence from the General Authority for Media Regulation. The comparison with the UAE is in Dubai and Abu Dhabi ads, and plan weeks ahead of the seasons: National Day on 23 September, Ramadan and White Friday.
