The SBA PPP relief funds have been a huge topic on the brain of many a small business recently and a constant topic in the news, especially these past couple weeks. Controversy aside, the loans are aimed to keep small businesses open and functioning to their best of their ability – and while they don’t carry the same magnitude or provide anywhere near the same level of relief, digital platforms Google and Facebook are offering their own form of relief for businesses, and recently released details for what exactly that looks like.
Google released information that they’d be providing $340 million in relief for advertisers in the form of credits last month, but recently released information on the eligibility restrictions. All in all they are pretty reasonable, stating advertisers must have run ads for 10 out of 12 months in 2019 and in either January or February of 2020. Basically the credits are aimed at consistent advertisers who have been long -time proponents of Google advertising platforms long before the current pandemic.
The best thing about the Google credits? No need to apply. There isn’t any documentation around how much the credit will be for except that each ad account will only receive one and the amount will vary for each business based on past ad spend. Credits will roll out in phases but are slated to start appearing in ads accounts in late May and can be used for search, display, or YouTube through the end of 2020.
Facebook is providing $100 million in financial relief in the form of cash grants for small businesses affected by COVID-19. To be eligible, organizations must have a businesses of 2-50 employees, been in business for at least a year, and be able to document challenges from Coronavirus. The kicker for the Facebook grants though is that businesses must operate in one of the 28 cities where Facebook has a presence (spoiler, Nashville and STL aren’t on the list). However, if you meet the requirements, applications are now open and close May 8th.
