New terms and conditions for Google Ad Grants

What do the new conditions entail?

For owners who use their account properly, there will be no major impact. The new terms are only designed to ensure that quality is ensured and that the free Google Ads budget is not abused. Make sure your account and campaigns meet the following conditions:

• Minimum CTR of 5% at the account level.
• Keyword quality score must be 3 or higher.
• Each campaign must have at least 2 ad groups with at least 2 ads.
• Each account must use at least 2 active sitelink extensions.
• Branded keywords can no longer be used if the foundation does not own them, for example, "Google" or "YouTube."
• The account must use location targeting.
• Conversion tracking must be enabled, and this means there must be at least one conversion per month.
• Limit daily budget is set at $329 USD, which is $10,000 per month!
• Maximum cost per click (CPC) is €2, exception: bidding strategy maximize conversions.
• Many single-word keywords are no longer useful because they are used too broadly. However, there are exceptions, you can find that list here.

Is your account blocked? Don't panic! You can change all the things that caused your account to be blocked. Then you can submit a request to reinstate the account so you can use the Google Ad Grants budget again.

When do the terms go into effect?

Google announced in the email that as of Jan. 1, all new terms and conditions will take effect. However, after this there has been a notification that this is not a hard deadline and that accounts will first see warnings. If nothing is done with this in 2 consecutive months, the account will be blocked.

In addition, each account will receive an annual survey about participation in the Google Ad Grants account. If it is not completed, the account will be cancelled. So fill it out as well to keep your account active!

No Ad Grants account yet, but qualify?

Are you a non-profit organization and would you like to take advantage of Google's Ad Grants program? In order to qualify for the program, the Netherlands sets a number of conditions:

• The organization is a charitable nonprofit;
• The organization is based in the Netherlands;
• The organization is in possession of a CBF Quality Mark or CBF-Verklaring van Geen Bezwaar or should be an Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling (ANBI) recognized by the tax authorities;
• The organization is not a government agency, educational institution, health organization or hospital;
• Is registered as a Techsoup partner;
• The website is of good quality and meets Google requirements;
• The campaigns should be managed by a Google Partner organization.

Can you answer yes to all the questions? Great! Then you are entitled to an Ad Grants account and you can start setting it up. Need help with the application and setup of your campaigns? Get in touch with us!