Last Updated: April 3, 2020

Here’s How to Know if Your Business Qualifies

Google announced that it will be issuing credits to small and medium-sized businesses that have been active advertisers since the beginning of 2019, as part of a $340 million effort to help businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

What That Means for You and Your Business

While Google is still releasing information about the program, here’s what you can expect. If you’ve had an active Google Ads account since January 2019, you will receive a credit in your ad account in the coming months that will need to be used by the end of this year. Any unused credits will be removed from accounts, so be sure not to leave money on the table. The amount of the credit is not yet known, nor do we know what determines that amount. If we had to guess, we’d expect it to be based on your average monthly spend over the last 15 months, rather than an evenly distributed amount. We’re also not sure what the cutoff date for active accounts is. Many companies stopped advertising weeks ago because they were not physically open, so we’re not sure if those accounts will still be considered, but we’re hopeful that they will be.

What Your Business Needs to Do to Receive the Credit

There is no application process for this. The credit will automatically be applied to accounts, and the users with access to your account will receive notifications about it. If you’re a business who pays an agency to manage their Google Ads, as many of our clients are, you may not receive the notification. Instead, that notification will go to those who are managing the account on your behalf. Because of that, it’s vital that you ask your agency about it and have them let you know when that credit is received. We’ll continue to update this post as we learn more information. If you are not certain whether you qualify or if you have other questions about the program, we’re here to help.