Yahoo announced it will acquire Maktoob.com in a massive traffic grab for the once search giant.

The financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal means an additional 16.5 million users for Yahoo’s already wide-reaching advertising network.

Yahoo’s products will merge with Maktoob’s local online content that caters to the Arab world. There will be Arabic versions of Yahoo Messenger instant messaging and Yahoo Mail e-mail services. Users of Maktoob come from across the Middle East from countries like the UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Kuwate and Saudi Arabia.

Yahoo won’t be taking control of the content, however, Ahmed Nassef, the current general manager of Maktoob.com, will stay at the head of the company keeping his local expertise in control of the content.

“This acquisition will accelerate Yahoo!’s strategy of expanding in high-growth emerging markets where we believe Yahoo has unparalleled opportunity to become the destination of choice for consumers,” Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said in a statement.

The deal has Yahoo’s ad service poised to reap a lot of rewards with the emergence of internet culture in the area. Internet usage in the region has skyrocketed since 2000, and getting in on the early stages of their internet explosion will give Yahoo the first knowledge of how to market to a Middle Eastern audience.

This deal also gives US advertisers a foothold in an area that has been all but shut off from typical American marketing.