As the impact of the pandemic continues to be felt around the world, Google has made a commitment to support small and medium-sized businesses, health organizations and frontline healthcare workers.
Google is an excellent example of how businesses can come together to support each other, and the global community, when they need it most. We will outline Google’s top six COVID-19 assistance measures, with a particular focus on how they are helping businesses, below.
How Google is Supporting People and Organizations Through the Global Pandemic
- Google is providing $250 million in ad grants for the World Health Organization (WHO) and over 100 government agencies to provide important information, such as preventing the spread of COVID-19 as well as initiatives to help local communities. Google is also providing $20 million in ad grants to financial institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGO) for the purpose of running ads related to relief funds or resources for small and large businesses.
- A plan to promote and increase production of medical devices and personal protective equipment (PPE) through direct financial support. Google is working with a longtime supplier to produce and provide more face masks and ventilators to frontline healthcare workers. They are also leveraging expertise in engineering, supply chain and other healthcare-related matters from Google, Verily and X to make this possible.
- For academic institutions and researchers, there is $20 million available for the purposes of studying potential COVID-19 therapies and vaccines, tracking critical data and identifying new ways to stop the spread of the virus. A credit application can be completed on the Google for Education website.
- A $200 million investment fund has been established for international NGOs and financial institutions to give small businesses access to capital. This fund is in addition to the $15 million in cash grants that Google.org is making available to NGOs to help businesses continue operating during this time.
- In an effort to further promote digital commerce, Google is in the process of waiving fees for merchants to sell their products online. Google has also partnered with PayPal to link their accounts. Free selling will be piloted in the United States by the end of April 2020, and will then be cascaded around the globe.
- For businesses with active accounts, Google is offering $340 million in free Google Ads credits. These credits can be used until the end of 2020 across all of Google’s advertising platforms. With the right digital marketing strategy, this is an excellent opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses to connect with their customers, and generate new leads.
Zigma Internet Marketing applauds Google, and other companies, for creating initiatives to support businesses, organizations and communities throughout this challenging time.
As a Google Partner and digital marketing agency in Toronto with many years of experience helping businesses, this is an excellent opportunity for the Zigma team to help clients, new and existing, optimize Google Ads. If you’re interested in a free discovery call to create a customized strategy to use your free Google credits, please call us at (647) 556-6071 to get started today.