For years, businesses of all sizes have been navigating near-constant change, with seemingly no end in sight. The ways people engage with brands and consume content online continue to evolve; expectations for data privacy are growing; and technology platform changes are rewriting the techniques that businesses have used for decades to reach customers and measure campaigns.
Amid all this change, Google is committed to keeping people and their information safe online, to supporting the needs of publishers and creators to monetize their content, and to helping local and national businesses grow profitably online.
The success of local businesses in particular is integral to the fabric of our cities and towns. Across the U.S., local businesses count on digital ads to thrive, and we believe preserving their access to digital tools is paramount. Research by the Connected Commerce Council demonstrates the significance of digital ads as a revenue stream for small business advertisers.
Reliance on digital tools isn’t abstract; it translates into real-life business growth. I hear this from customers every day. Take New York-based Trade Street Jam Company, which went from producing 2,000 jars of jam every two months to 2,000 jars every two weeks. It attributes this growth to digital ads.
Another New York business used digital to scale up its online presence. For four generations, Borgatti’s Ravioli has been making homemade pasta for local residents in the Bronx. “When my mom started our online shop, we only sold six packages a week,” explains owner Chris Borgatti. “Then we tried digital ads, and now we ship to all 50 states. Without digital ads, we couldn’t share our family recipe with the world.”
In addition to providing opportunities for growth and scale, digital advertising can also make it possible for small businesses to compete with larger brands and reinvest in their local communities. Strider Sports, a Rapid City, South Dakota-based bicycle retailer, is a powerful example. “Digital advertising helps us reach customers by putting the right information in front of people at the right time without a huge budget,” says COO Dona Nesselhuf. “These [types of] tools level the playing field. [If] we sell more bikes, we’ll hire more people and bring more money into the community.”
This impact can have a ripple effect, fueling local economies through new jobs, expanded locations, and enriched services, all while giving billions of people around the world access to engaging content and authoritative information online.
For these reasons, we continue investing in initiatives like Grow with Google Digital Coaches to give companies access to the resources they need to grow, and programs that empower local businesses to share their stories.
For decades, local businesses have counted on digital ads to compete and grow profitably online. Let’s continue to support businesses of all sizes and the tools that help them flourish.
