Google has just announced that they will be providing $340 million in ad credits to small and medium sized businesses on the Google Ads platform. These credits are intended to reduce the cost of maintaining an account and help businesses reach out to their customers during this unprecedented time.
These ad credits will be valid till the end of 2020 giving most advertisers plenty of time to use them. In addition, as far as we can tell these ad credits won’t have any strings attached – meaning you should be able to spend this credit on whatever audiences you wish and to promote whatever service or product you want.
If you’ve already been selected for ad credit you will have received a notification on your account. However, they seem to be applying this credit on a case by case basis meaning it’s likely going to take some time for Google to apply this credit to everyone who’s applicable.
Who’s eligible?
The ad credits will be available to small and medium businesses, who advertise directly with Google or through partners around the world with active accounts since the beginning of 2019. Credits will also be provided to SMB advertisers that have been active advertisers since Jan 1, 2019 and comply with all Google Ads T&Cs. Small and medium businesses worldwide that have been active advertisers since the beginning of 2019 will be informed in the coming months through notifications within their Google Ads account.
How much can you receive?
Although this isn’t confirmed, the amount accounts receive it’s likely to differ greatly. Google will prioritise credits for those accounts will have historically spent the most. Although this is a positive initiative Google is implementing, it doesn’t not have a ring of self-preservation. Google makes a staggering amount of money off SMBs and they make up a large proportion of the overall ad spend on Google Ads. However, in the light of the current crisis SMBs are the most likely to be negatively affected – as many won’t have the savings or assets to maintain normal operations during this difficult period. And because of this, businesses need to decide where their budgets are going to be most effectively spent. Marketing unfortunately isn’t usually people’s first choice. With this in mind, Google is ensuring that advertisers can maintain their accounts, so that when businesses recover, they’ll still have the business which is the backbone for much of Google’s advertising business.
For small scale accounts which don’t spend thousands on a regular basis I wouldn’t expect more than a couple hundred pounds. However, this isn’t something to be scoffed at, there’s a lot you can do with a couple hundred pounds on Google Ads. Especially if you can apply this to existing campaigns and an existing budget. At the end of the day Google is offering free money which can be used to help maintain a connection with your customer base and hopefully sales during a period which is going and has already become extremely tough.
It’s important to note Google hasn’t confirmed all the details mentioned above. However, we’ll endeavour to update this article as soon as new information is released to us.
How Innovation Visual can help?
We work with a range of businesses who work across varying budget sizes, industries and more. Many of our clients are also SMBs which makes us ideally placed to help facilitate the acquisition of ad credits from Google – through our contacts at Google and partner agencies.
Our aim with many SMBs is to drive the best performance and results within a very limited budget. We can therefore help you not only acquire the ad credits and ensure your eligibility but also set up, optimise and bring value through extremely efficient and targeted campaigns on Google Ads.
If you interested in learning more about Google’s ad credit initiative feel free to reach out to us directly at 0333 772 0509 or contact us here using our easy form.
