• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, April 17, 2020

Google on Friday said it will waive ad-serving fees for publishers that use Ad Manager for five months, after some complaints from industry insiders.

The company has already stepped up to give small and medium-size businesses financial assistance with free ad credits for those with active accounts in March.   

Not all publishers using the ad exchange platform will qualify for relief. It will help those publishers serving “original” journalism. The fund aims to help those publishers that have ads appearing alongside news coverage, breaking stories that keep news sites and apps running, wrote Jason Washing, managing director of global partnerships, news, at Google.

Google, which is trying to identify ways to support the advertising and publishing industries, said the waiver for news publishers builds on the Google News Initiative’s Journalism Emergency Relief Fund, which delivers aid to thousands of small and local news publishers globally.

The aid is intended to help news organizations reduce some of the cost of managing their businesses and funding important journalism.

Google announced it had raised $6.5 million in funding for organizations fighting misinformation, with an immediate focus on COVID-19. Earlier this week Richard Gingras, VP of News at Google, wrote in a post that the company would give emergency funds to publications serving local communities.  

The Google Ads phone help desk is no longer active. It directs advertisers to the web for support. Some advertisers are still waiting for Google to throw them a bone, such as extended payment terms.