In response to the coronavirus pandemic, and its impact on the economy, Google announced that as part of its commitment of more than $800 million to help the economy, it is offering $340 million in ad credits for small and medium-sized businesses.
Advertisers who are eligible will see notifications regarding the ad credits available in their Google Ads accounts. The credits can be applied on ads on Search, Display and YouTube ads, and on any campaign types.
To be eligible, companies will need to have had active Google Ads accounts since January 1, 2019. It is unclear whether an account is eligible if all ads were paused at some point.
Google has also committed $20 million in ad grants to community financial institutions and non-government organizations to run public service announcements on relief funds and resources for small and medium size businesses.
Google says it hopes to “alleviate some of the costs to stay in touch with their customers.” At this point, it is unclear just how much financial assistance the typical business will receive. The credits are intended to support existing customers.