The Online Project recently released a report answering the question “How much does a Facebook fan cost in the Arab world?” offering businesses in the region some insights as to how their Facebook outreach is paying off.

The report sheds light on the average cost per fan in 11 countries in the Arab world, across eight industries: Telecoms, Consumer Goods, Automotive, Airlines, Electronics, Banking and Finance, and Public Figures.

Facebook's advertising platform is based on an automatic bidding system; which means there is no fixed cost per click, the report explains. Advertisers set a bid amount either per click or per one thousand impressions and that would be the maximum price they are willing to pay based on “reach, performance, and competitor’s ads.”

Here are a few useful findings from the report:

• In December 2012, over 44 million Arabs were using Facebook.
• Qatar has the highest average cost per fan, while Egypt has the lowest average cost.
• Egypt has the highest amount of Facebook users in the region at 11,635,800 people.
• The "Public Figures" category has a low average cost per fan. Most people seem to like to click on ads that contain a picture of a person, and if the face is recognizable, then it is more likely to get clicks.
• Saudi Arabia has the lowest average cost per fan among the GCC countries due to the high number of Facebook users in comparison to the other GCC countries.