Google Ad Manager cuts fees to support publishers during coronavirus pandemic

Ben Schoon | Apr 17 2020 - 7:32 am PT

The outbreak of COVID-19 has had an impact on every type of business as millions are told to stay at home. In many cases, that means cutting jobs too. Today, Google has announced that it will be cutting fees for Ad Manager for the next few months to support publishers.

Detailed in a post on The Keyword, Google’s Managing Director of Global News Partnerships, Jason Washing, reveals that Google is cutting fees for its Ad Manager service for the next 5 months in an effort to help support struggling news outlets.

Google Ad Manager is used by many publishers around the world to support their business by placing ads on content, but it works for a fee. Google explains the cost of Ad Manager on a support page.

For the next 5 months, Google will be waiving fees for many of its news partners. Details on how this affects specific partners will be sent via email over the coming days.

Many news publishers around the world use Google Ad Manager to support their digital businesses with advertising. As the coronavirus pandemic takes a toll on our global economy, the Google News Initiative is working to identify ways to provide immediate financial support to those news organizations around the world producing original journalism.

That’s why we’ve decided to waive ad serving fees for news publishers globally on Ad Manager for five months. Over the coming days, we’ll notify our news partners that meet the requirements about the details of the program, and what they can expect to see in their account statements.

This news arrives as part of Google’s wider initiative to help publishers affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Earlier this week, Google announced details on its “Journalism Emergency Relief Fund” which commits funding to newsrooms around the world.