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In a galaxy far, far away… Just kidding, here on Earth, not too long after COVID-19 began, Google decided to issue Google Ads COVID credits to Google Ads users to help small to medium-sized businesses. This credit from Google Ads is to show their commitment to businesses and help them engage with and reach customers during this challenging time where things are changing from week to week.
The continuous development of how businesses who use Google Ads are going to receive the credits has changed rapidly in the last couple of months. There have been various updates happening weekly mostly from Google Support. All the current and most recent updates are crammed into this blog. 
I hope to help you understand and navigate what is going on regarding the Google Ads credit all in one stop. If you use Google Ads, I bet you are asking yourself, “Do I qualify for the relief credits?” Let’s find out together.
Do I qualify?
You qualify for Google Ads COVID credits if you are a small to medium-size business that spent money in a Google Ads account in ten out of the twelve months of 2019. You also must have spent money in the Google Ads account for advertising in January and February of 2020. Customers who have followed Google’s advertising policies by marketing with them directly or through a Google Partner is eligible.
How can I use the credit?
You can use the credit for future Google Ads spend. It does not apply to your currently owed or past-owed Google Ads spend amount but applies to the next time your balance is at $0. These credits can be used for all campaign types including Search, Display, and YouTube.
[bctt tweet=”The Google Ads credit is only available for use until December 31, 2020.” username=”ThatCompanycom”]When will I receive the Google Ads COVID credit?
Google announced that these credits are going to come out in waves to all the various Google Ads users. To my knowledge, these Google Ads credits have been rolling out since Wednesday, June 17, 2020, but began to roll out in New Zealand first. While working inside of a client’s Google Ads account I noticed a light blue bar running across the top of the page. It said, “You’ve been granted a $300.00 ad credit towards future spend for COVID-19 relief.”
I only noticed one client had credits available in their account on Wednesday. Since then, I have seen over one hundred clients receive the notification saying their Google Ads credits are available in the account. If you do not see the credits, please be patient. Google says they’ll be rolling out the credits over the next couple of months. I recommend checking daily because the credits are rolling out fast.
How much credit do I get?
The amount of Google Ads credit that you receive is determined by your own individual ad spend, the currency, and the country where the account is from. The max amount that Google has said they will give as credit is $1,000. They will determine how much credit to give each Google Ads user depending on their earlier Google ad spend history. So far, I have seen a few of our clients receive the full $1,000, some receive $750, and many receive $300 in Google Ads COVID credits.
This next one is super important to remember!
How long are the Google Ads COVID Credits redeemable for?
The Google Ads credit is only available for use until December 31, 2020. After December 31, 2020, the unused portion of the credits will expire and no longer be available on ad spend.
Friendly reminder:
DO NOT FORGET TO USE YOUR GOOGLE ADS CREDIT BY DECEMBER 31, 2020!
For digital marketing/advertising agencies or white labels: Quick tip!
If you have a Google Ads Manager account and manage multiple clients, there is a quick way to see if any of your clients have received the Google Ads COVID credits.
- STEP 1 – Log into your Google Manager account
- STEP 2 – Click Accounts
- STEP 3 – Click Notifications
- STEP 4 – Under the Billing drop-down select COVID-19 ad credits and hit Apply
By checking for the credits this way, you can see all your clients who have received them at one glance like a dashboard versus having to go manually inside every client’s Google Ads account. Also, there should be a light blue car that goes across the top of the Google Ads Manager account when you log in. It almost slaps you in the face and says, “Hey, the credits are here!” If you cannot find the credits, the steps mentioned above are the manual way to do so.
Be Aware of This
A lot of marketers and advertisers use Google Ads to reach their target customers. One thing to be aware of after receiving the Google Ads COVID credit is that many businesses are going to be increasing their ad spend due to the credits. One thing to watch out for is using the credit as free money and then forgetting your actual business credit card is still attached for Google Ads spend.
What I am saying is, remember that you are still paying for ad spend. Be aware of when the Google Ads credit runs out so you can adjust accordingly to not overspend during a “free money” mindset. Another thing to watch out for is bidding against competitors in the next few months. There is going to be a lot of people using this credit to get ahead quickly. Do you want your marketing efforts to win the short race or win the marathon? That is up to you but nonetheless, something to think about.
It is also up to you to decide how you want to use the credits and where to apply them. I recommend that you apply the credits to the campaigns that need it the most. You can also use the credits to A/B test products if you have not done so yet. We have been monitoring the release of the Google Ads credits for our clients since before Google announced they were going to do such a thing. There was the first rumor of it happening and we have been on top of it for our clients ever since.
Using Google Ads COVID Credits to Help Your Agency and Help Your Older Clients:
We notified our clients who have received the credits and found new opportunities with old clients. Did you use it for remarketing or a competitor campaign? Are you finally getting into Google Shopping? Have you started a display campaign, or did you add the credits to your currently active campaigns to give them some extra help to get those customers? Let me know what you end up using your Google Ads COVID credits for within your marketing efforts.
P.S. Thank you to Ed C. and everyone in the PPC department who helped monitor the Google Ads COVID credits situation. It is a team effort to stay on top of these things and maintain the updates for our clients. Now the fun begins—using the credits.
Author: Joseph S.
