Amid rising concerns over Coronavirus outbreak around the world, the tech giant Google has pledged to donate more than $800 million as part of its coronavirus response.
Free advertising
According to the sources, most of the donations will be made in the form of free advertising. The tech company says it is giving the World Health Organization and global government agencies $250 million in ad grants to share information on how to battle the spread of the virus. At the same time, it’s also allowing ad credits to small and medium-sized businesses. These credits can be used at any point until the end of the year.
Meanwhile, $20 million is being allocated in Google Cloud credits for researchers and academic institutions who are studying vaccines, therapies, and other data to help contain the spread of COVID-19.
“We’re committing $800M+ in new #COVID19 response efforts, incl $340M in
@GoogleAds credits for SMBs worldwide, $250M in ad grants for @WHO & 100+ govt orgs globally, a $200M investment fund for NGOs & banks to help small businesses access capital, and more.” Sundar Pichai wrote in his tweet.Â
We’re committing $800M+ in new #COVID19 response efforts, incl $340M in @GoogleAds credits for SMBs worldwide, $250M in ad grants for @WHO & 100+ govt orgs globally, a $200M investment fund for NGOs & banks to help small businesses access capital, and more https://t.co/oVj6MMs9Bl
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) March 27, 2020
Challenged with low ad demands, Google largely sees this as an opportunity to help small businesses that have been hit hard by the pandemic, as well as NGOs on a mission to raise awareness on COVID-19 — while helping revenue flow through Google’s ad system in the long-term.
3 million masks
Along with free advertisement, Google states that it is working with one of its suppliers to produce up to 3 million masks in the coming weeks to donate to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Writing about the same in a blog post, CEO Sunday Pichai announced that the company is working with supplier Magid Glove & Safety to ramp up production of the masks in the coming weeks.
The post also had a detailed information about the tremendous effort by Google to donate both cash and ads to help support small- and medium-sized businesses, health organizations, and academic institutions.
Meanwhile, Tim Cook, Chief Executive Officer of Apple also has announced that the company is donating 10 million masks to the medical community in the United States, and millions more for the European regions hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Proud to share we’ve been able to source 10M masks for the US and millions more for the hardest hit regions in Europe. Our ops teams are helping to find and purchase masks from our supply chain in coordination with governments around the world. pic.twitter.com/uTsA6eA5ks
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 25, 2020
