Google has changed its grants policy for charities using its free ad service – enabling charities to bid for more advertising space but forcing charity ads below commercial ones.
Users were given three days notice of the changes which were introduced on 28 January. In an email on 25 January users were told that “as of January 28 2013 Google grantees may bid up to $2 USD on keywords” - double what users could previously bid ($1 USD) meaning users can enter more auctions.
But the company added that “to balance the interests of businesses who pay to advertise on google search, your ads will now appear below the ads of traditional AdWords advertisers".
Bertie Bosredon, digital and social media consultant, warned that: “This may impact on many charities; for instance healthcare charities who could have their ads buried under insurance companies - and will have to use a commercial account to compete.”
Google grantees are currently allocated $10,000 USD worth of free advertising each per month - the same as in 2012. Accounts operate in the same way as commercial adword accounts where users create a text ad to direct users to their site and bid on keywords to appear in Google searches. Google was unable to tell civilsociety.co.uk how many charities use the scheme.
Digital marketing agency, Passion Digital has carried out an initial analysis of the impact for six of its clients on its blog, comparing the week before the changes with the week after, and found that overall the number of clicks were up by 8 per cent. But the majority of its clients experienced a decrease in clicks, with two accounts seeing a significant increase (31 per and 35 per cent).
The agency concludes that: “Clearly the sector of the charity and keywords present in the account will play a large part in what the outcome of this Google grant change will be.”
It also notes that in some cases its clients were appearing higher than commercial advertisers, suggesting that the change has not been implemented fully.
Grow Your Charity Online
Meanwhile Google has partnered with the Charity Technology Trust and the Media Trust to launch a campaign to help 30,000 small charities improve their fundraising online in 2013.
It has launched an online hub at www.growyourcharityonline.com where charities can download tools and resources and find out about events and workshops which will be run by Google staff volunteers.
Richard Craig, chief executive of CTT, said: “Due to a lack of resources, very few of the charities we work with are able to take full advantage of what the internet has to offer to help them to achieve their missions.”
Caroline Diehl, chief executive of the Media Trust, added: “Exploring opportunities to learn new skills to manage their online presence can enable them to change the world by giving a voice to communities and inspiring more people to make a difference, to get help, volunteer and donate.”
