Understanding the Google Ads Credit for SMBs During COVID-19

In March, Google announced that it would support small and medium businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing some Google Ads customers with $340 million in Google Ads credits. These credits will be available globally by July 1st, 2020.

The funds are automatically being applied to Google Ads accounts for businesses that meet the criteria for the credit. Qualified businesses don’t need to do anything other than wait for their accounts to be credited.

Google is using the following criteria for eligibility:

  • Businesses must have been active users of Google Ads—spending on ads for at least 10 out of 12 months in 2019, and in January or February this year.
  • Google’s team will determine what qualifies as a small or medium business.
  • A business must have a billing address in one of the countries where the program has launched.

The credited amount will be based on the prior ad spend of the business. This is a one-time credit, valued up to a maximum of $1,000 USD. The credit can only be applied to future ad spend, but can be applied to any campaign type across the entire Google Ads platform. The credit must be used by the end of 2020. After Dec. 31, any unused credit will be removed from the account.

To learn more, you can read Google’s FAQs about the Google Ads Credit.