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Yes, when the time comes, (but only when the time comes), small business are going to need to tell their customers that they are back and available. Ad spend is

Yes, when the time comes, (but only when the time comes), small business are going to need to tell their customers that they are back and available. Ad spend is a major expense for small businesses like restaurants and small boutiques, and not having that expense will be a big help to getting these companies operating again. But Google is doing a lot more beyond that: "A $200 million investment fund that will support NGOs and financial institutions around the world to help provide small businesses with access to capital.... This is in addition to the $15 million in cash grants Google.org is already providing to nonprofits to help bridge these gaps for SMBs." "Direct financial support and expertise to help increase the production capacity for personal protective equipment (PPE) and lifesaving medical devices. We’re working with our longtime supplier and partner Magid Glove & Safety..."

treyfitty 7y ago
There’s something called the advertisers dilemma (akin to the prisoners dilemma) for a reason- game theory suggests advertising has become de facto necessary only because other parties do it. In other words, small businesses would choose NOT to advertise if they all cooperated and chose not to. And I owned a restaurant. Restaurants, by and large, do not advertise on Google Search. If they do, it’s a small fraction of their ad spend. There are many ways to get the message across, like actually being good and having a connection with recurring customers.
- 3pt14159 7y ago
  So many things in the economy have turned into arms races. Property prices, advertising spending, education spending, status symbols. If we could somehow get out of it we'd have fewer $100m pieces of artwork and a lot more housing and free time.
- summerlight 7y ago
  > There are many ways to get the message across, like actually being good and having a connection with recurring customers. The situation is pretty novel since there are significantly less options for offline interaction available this time. I don't think local businesses can cover most of the loss only with recurring customers this time.

treyfitty 7y ago

There’s something called the advertisers dilemma (akin to the prisoners dilemma) for a reason- game theory suggests advertising has become de facto necessary only because other parties do it. In other words, small businesses would choose NOT to advertise if they all cooperated and chose not to. And I owned a restaurant. Restaurants, by and large, do not advertise on Google Search. If they do, it’s a small fraction of their ad spend. There are many ways to get the message across, like actually being good and having a connection with recurring customers.

3pt14159 7y ago
So many things in the economy have turned into arms races. Property prices, advertising spending, education spending, status symbols. If we could somehow get out of it we'd have fewer $100m pieces of artwork and a lot more housing and free time.
summerlight 7y ago
> There are many ways to get the message across, like actually being good and having a connection with recurring customers. The situation is pretty novel since there are significantly less options for offline interaction available this time. I don't think local businesses can cover most of the loss only with recurring customers this time.