• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, October 8, 2012

Trying to boost business, Google is rolling out a credit card that small-to-medium-sized businesses can use to spend more money with the search giant. Dubbed AdWords Business Credit, “Google has brought out its first credit card,” ZDNet writes.

“Google … today launches a program in the United Kingdom that will help its customers finance online advertising purchases,” Daily Finance reports. “The service is expected to launch in the United States within the next few weeks.”

With the card, Google “hopes small business will use to rack up big bills for online ads they don't have the cash to stump up for at the time of purchase,” The Register reasons.

“This is not the first time that Google has offered credit to drive more AdWords investment,” TechCrunch reminds us. “It’s been running a pilot with 1,400 companies in the U.S. for a year.

“The results of the study proved that Google could sell more and more valuable ad space by putting the money up front,” 9to5Google writes.

Why? “Small business owners are used to being pressed: for resources, for time, and especially for credit,” Google VP Treasurer Brent Callinicos, tells WebProNews. “Juggling expenses across different credit cards and managing seasonal business spikes and valleys doesn’t leave much room for other spending, like investing in a new oven at a pizzeria or treating a great customer to dinner.”

More broadly, “the move by Google to offer credit to advertisers appears to be in line with the financing schemes some IT companies offer customers for large IT purchases through their financing arms, helping increase their business,” Computerworld notes.