Google to Commit Over $800M to Help Small Businesses During the COVID-19 Outbreak

The coronavirus is continuing to spread throughout the world and is having a huge, negative impact on communities. In order to help address some of the challenges businesses are now facing during this time, Google has announced they are committing more than $800 million to support small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) as well as health workers and organizations.

As part of their commitment, they are including:

• $250 million in ad grants to help health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), and over 100 government agencies around the world, provide essential health information and other measures to the public about preventing the spread of COVID-19.
• org has already committed $15 million in cash grants to nonprofits to help support financing gaps for SMBs. They’ve just announced another $200 million investment fund will be available to support NGOs and financial institutions around the globe.
• $340 million in Google Ads credits are available to all SMBs which have had active accounts over the past year. You will find these credit notifications in your Google Ads account, and they can be used at any point up to the end of 2020, across their advertising platforms.
• $20 million in Google Cloud credits have been set aside for academic researchers and institutions as they study potential treatments and vaccines, track important data, and find new ways to combat the spread of COVID-19.
• Google is also directly supporting the production capacity of personal protective equipment and critical medical devices.

In addition to all of this, Google is increasing their gift match they offer their employees each year, from $7,500 to $10,000. So, on top of the $50 million Google.org has already donated, their employees can now give $20,000 to the organizations in their communities. Google hopes to continue helping all aspects of communities, from businesses and educators to researchers and nonprofits.