Google Grant Ads and Paid Google Ads serve different goals and may well compliment each other. Google Ad Grants and Paid Google accounts will not compete with one another because Ad Grants ads appear only in positions below paid ads.
If you’re a non-profit, Google recognizes the hard work that you put into helping others. As a result, Google allows your non-profit to receive up to $10,000 a month in grants to allow them to raise awareness and collect donations from interested audiences.
It certainly poses an interesting opportunity for non-profits that are tight on cash. As with any other charitable endeavour, there are hoops to jump through with the Google Ads grant program. Google won’t give it to you automatically, so it might be more convenient for you to just stick with a Google paid ads account.
This article from New Digital will help you compare the grants versus paid model in Google Ads to help you decide which one is right for you. Let’s dive in!
What Are Google Ad Grants?
Google Ad Grants is a program designed to empower nonprofit organizations by offering them free advertising on Google Ads. This initiative allows eligible nonprofits to leverage the power of online advertising to promote their missions, and even explore new audiences.
Recipients of Google Ad Grants are provided with a set budget to use each month, up to $10,000 in free Google Ads credits. This can help you substantially with your digital advertising budget.
Pros Of The Google Ad Grants Program
- Free Google Ads Advertising Budget: Nonprofits receive up to $10,000 per month in in-kind advertising, significantly boosting their ability to reach new audiences without tapping into their own funds.
- Increased Visibility: The program helps organizations increase their online presence, driving awareness and engagement with potential donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries.
- Access to Google Ads Tools: Recipients gain access to the powerful tools and features of Google Ads, including analytics and targeting options, to optimize their campaigns effectively.
- Skill Development: Managing a Google Ads account provides valuable digital marketing experience, enhancing the skills of nonprofit teams.
- Flexibility in Use: Nonprofits can promote various aspects of their organization, from events and fundraising campaigns to educational content and services.
Cons Of The Google Ad Grants Program
- Eligibility Restrictions: The program is only available to eligible nonprofit organizations, excluding a vast number of businesses and other entities from participation.
- Complex Application Process: The application process can be cumbersome, requiring specific documentation and adherence to Google’s policies, which might deter some nonprofits.
- Usage Restrictions: There are stringent guidelines on how the advertising budget can be used, including caps on cost-per-click and strict ad content policies.
- Maintenance Requirements: To maintain the Google Ad Grants account, nonprofits must actively manage their accounts, meet performance criteria, and follow Google’s advertising policies, which can be resource-intensive.
- Limited Ad Features: Some advanced features of Google Ads, like certain ad formats or premium placement options, may not be available or are limited under the Ad Grants program.
What Are Google Paid Accounts?
Google Paid Accounts refer to the standard, paid version of Google Ads, Google’s online advertising platform. This service allows businesses and non-profits of any kind to create advertisements that appear on Google’s search results pages and the wider Google Network. Unlike Google Ad Grants, which are specifically for nonprofits, paid Google Ads accounts are available to anyone willing to invest in online advertising. You typically set your own budgets, choose your targeting options, and pay based on the number of clicks or impressions your ads receive.
Pros Of A Paid Google Ads Account
- Full Access to Features: Paid accounts unlock all of Google Ads’ features, including advanced ad formats, targeting options, and placement choices, providing advertisers with maximum flexibility.
- Greater Control Over Budget: Advertisers can set and adjust their paid Google Ads budget as needed, without the monthly cap imposed on Ad Grants recipients. This allows for more aggressive or competitive advertising strategies.
- Comprehensive Targeting Options: Paid accounts benefit from detailed targeting, including demographic, geographic, and behavior-based options, ensuring ads reach the most relevant audience.
- Immediate Campaign Launch: Businesses can start advertising immediately after setting up their account and campaign, without the need for a lengthy application process.
- No Strict Eligibility Requirements: Any business or individual can create a paid Google Ads account, making it accessible to a wider range of advertisers.
Cons Of A Paid Google Ads Account
- Cost: Depending on the competitiveness of the keywords and targeting choices, expenses can quickly accumulate.
- Complexity in Management: Managing a Google Ads account effectively requires a good understanding of digital marketing principles, making it potentially challenging for beginners.
- Risk of Poor ROI: Without proper campaign optimization, there’s a risk of spending without seeing a return on investment, leading to wasted marketing budgets.
- Competitive Landscape: In highly competitive sectors, the cost-per-click can be quite high, requiring a substantial budget to compete effectively.
- Learning Curve: To fully leverage Google Ads’ potential, advertisers need to invest time in learning the platform’s extensive features and analytics tools.
Do Google Ads Grants campaign compete against regular Google Ads?
Ad Grants Account ads appear only on Google search results pages, either independently or in positions below regular Google Paid ads, so its performance cannot be compared to the Paid Google Ads Account. In other words, Grants campaign performance will be always worse than paid Google Ads, since paid ads are valued better. Google provides more on this point in this Ad Grants FAQ article.
For the same reason, Google Grants campaigns will NOT compete with the paid Google Ads. If you are running both, grants and regular campaigns, the following strategy will provide optimal results:
– Run Paid Google ads to generate more conversions.
– Run the Google Grants ads in addition to paid account, to build awareness and generate more traffic, without optimizing it for conversions. The grants campaign should use “broad” match keywords, that usually drive lower intent traffic, but it is good for building awareness.
20 Differences Between Google Ad Grant And Google Ads Accounts
Eligibility Requirements
The first question is, are you eligible for Google Ads grants?
Google Ad Grants are reserved exclusively for nonprofit organizations that hold valid charitable status in their respective countries. These organizations must also comply with Google’s nonprofit certification process and adhere to the specific eligibility criteria outlined by the program.
On the other hand, paid Google accounts are open to businesses and individuals across various sectors, offering an opportunity for any entity looking to advertise their services, products, or cause. There are no eligibility restrictions, making it accessible for a wide array of advertisers seeking to reach their target audience through Google’s extensive network.
Application Process
Evidently, the more time the application process takes, the more of a roadblock it can be.
Google Ad Grants require a detailed, multi-step application process requiring nonprofits to first register for Google for Nonprofits, verify their nonprofit status, and then submit an application for the Ad Grants program. This process is designed to ensure that only eligible nonprofits benefit from the free advertising budget, but it requires adherence to Google’s terms and conditions related to nonprofit advertising.
Paid Google Ads Accounts mean having a straightforward and immediate setup. Users can quickly sign up using a Google account, enter their payment information, and start creating ads without any need for eligibility verification or application approval. This accessibility allows businesses and individuals to launch advertising campaigns with minimal delay, providing instant access to Google’s expansive advertising network.
Budget Allocation
The way an advertising budget is allocated directly impacts the reach and effectiveness of a campaign. For nonprofits and businesses, understanding and optimizing their budget allocation is key to maximizing their online presence and achieving their marketing objectives.
Google Ad Grants: Offers eligible nonprofits a set advertising budget of up to $10,000 per month for use on Google Ads. This stipulation ensures that nonprofit organizations have substantial resources to bolster their online visibility without impacting their operational funds. However, this budget cannot be exceeded, and any unused portion does not roll over to the next month, necessitating careful planning and management.
Paid Google Ads Accounts: Gives advertisers complete autonomy over their budget allocation, with no preset limits. Businesses can set and adjust daily budgets based on campaign performance and overall marketing goals. This flexibility allows for dynamic spending adjustments to optimize campaign results and ROI.
Cost Management
Effective cost management in advertising ensures that every dollar spent contributes to achieving campaign goals, whether it’s raising awareness, driving donations, or generating sales. It doesn’t matter whether Google is giving you an ads grant and paying for some of your ads, mastering cost management techniques is crucial for sustainability and success.
Google Ad Grants imposes certain restrictions on cost management, including a cap on the cost-per-click (CPC) and a monthly budget limit. These constraints require nonprofits to be strategic in their keyword selection and bidding strategies, focusing on maximizing the impact of their allotted budget within the program’s parameters.
Meanwhile, Paid Google Ads Accounts offer advertisers the ability to manage costs through various bidding strategies and detailed control over CPC bids. This level of control enables businesses to fine-tune their spending in real time to focus on high-performing ads and keywords, adjust for competitive bidding environments, and manage advertising costs in alignment with their financial objectives and campaign performance.
Ad Formats and Types
Choosing the right ad formats and types is crucial for engaging the target audience effectively. Different formats serve different purposes, from increasing brand awareness to driving website traffic or conversions.
Google Ad Grants limit the ad formats and types available to nonprofits, primarily offering text-based ads that appear on Google search results pages. You can drive traffic to your pages, but you don’t get any flexibility with presentation.
Paid Google Ads Accounts provide a wide range of paid search ad formats and types, including text, image, video, and interactive ads, across Google’s search network, display network, and YouTube. This variety allows businesses to engage with customers the way they want and appeal to different audience preferences and behaviors, enhancing the potential for engagement and conversion.
Campaign Features
Features like targeting options, scheduling, and ad extensions can have a massive impact on the efficacy of your campaign.
Google Ad Grants offers a selection of campaign features tailored to the needs of nonprofit organizations, though with certain limitations. For example, there may be restrictions on targeting options and ad scheduling, which can limit the ability of nonprofits to fully customize their campaigns.
Paid Google Ads Accounts deliver a comprehensive suite of campaign features, including advanced targeting options, ad scheduling, and a wide array of ad extensions. These features give businesses the flexibility to customize their campaigns extensively, allowing for detailed audience segmentation, precise scheduling to match audience online behavior, and enhanced ad formats to improve visibility and engagement.
Bidding Strategies
Effective bidding strategies are essential for managing ad placement and costs in competitive search environments. They allow advertisers to optimize their bids for clicks, impressions, or conversions, influencing how often and where their ads are shown relative to competitors.
Google Ad Grants impose specific bidding strategy limitations, including a maximum cost-per-click (CPC) bid limit. Nonprofits using the Ad Grants program are often required to use automated bidding strategies, which rely on Google’s algorithms to optimize bids within the set budget. This can limit the ability of nonprofits to aggressively target high-competition keywords.
Paid Google Ads Accounts offer full access to all of Google Ads’ bidding strategies, including manual bidding, where advertisers can set their own bid amounts, and a variety of automated options designed to maximize conversions, clicks, or impression share.
Ad Performance Metrics
Google Ads requires you to make data-driven decisions. Metrics such as click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and cost per acquisition (CPA) provide insights into how effectively ads are reaching and resonating with the target audience.
Google Ad Grants provide access to a range of performance metrics similar to those available in paid accounts, enabling nonprofits to measure the impact of their ads. Of course, your focus might differ due to your advertising goals. There isn’t any difference between this model and that of Google Paid Ads, for the same types of ads, both offer the same analytics.
Reporting Tools
Similar to the analytics, the reporting tools that Google Ads managers will use in either case will be the same. Once again, the only difference is in the type of ad. You evidently won’t get YouTube analytics like watch time for a Google Ads Grants account, but you’ll get all the metrics you need within the Google Ads interface.
Account Management
Effective account management is key to maintaining organized, efficient, and successful advertising campaigns. This starts with setup and optimization and then continues with the ongoing adjustment of campaigns, ad groups, ads, and keywords to meet changing market conditions and campaign goals.
Google Ad Grants require adherence to specific account management policies, including active campaign management to avoid account suspension. Nonprofits must regularly review and adjust their campaigns according to Google’s performance criteria, which can limit flexibility but ensure focused campaign efforts.
Paid Google Ads Accounts offer complete control over account management, allowing businesses to structure their accounts according to their marketing strategies. Advertisers can freely adjust campaign settings for paid search ads, explore different ad formats, and experiment with keywords and bidding strategies, providing the agility needed to respond to market dynamics and optimize campaign performance.
Geographic Targeting
Geographic targeting allows advertisers to focus their efforts on specific locations where their target audience is most likely to be found. This targeting is critical for optimizing ad spend and increasing the relevance of ads to potential customers, ultimately improving campaign results.
Google Ad Grants provides geographic targeting options, enabling nonprofits to display their ads in particular locations where they operate or have a significant audience interest. However, there are limits to the granularity of the locations
A Google Paid Account offers advanced geographic targeting features, allowing advertisers to select specific countries, regions, cities, or even a radius around a location. Businesses can tailor their campaigns to local markets, test new territories, or focus on high-performing areas, giving them a strategic advantage in reaching their desired audiences effectively.
Ad Scheduling
By scheduling ads, advertisers can optimize their ad delivery times to match their audience’s online behavior, increasing the chances of reaching potential customers when they are most likely to engage. Effective ad scheduling improves campaign performance.
Google Ad Grants and Paid Google Ads Accounts both offer ad scheduling capabilities, though with some limitations compared to paid accounts. Nonprofits can schedule their ads to appear during specific hours or days, enabling them to target their audience more effectively within the constraints of the Ad Grants program.
Keyword Restrictions
Keyword restrictions can significantly impact the effectiveness of search advertising campaigns. They determine the scope and relevance of an ad’s exposure, ensuring that the ads appear in response to search queries that are most likely to lead to engagement and conversions.
Google imposes restrictions on Google Ad Grants for specific keywords to ensure that nonprofits’ ads maintain a high level of relevance and quality. These restrictions include prohibitions on single-word keywords (with some exceptions), overly generic keywords, and keywords with a low Quality Score, guiding nonprofits towards more strategic and focused keyword selection.
While subject to Google’s overall keyword policies, Paid Google Ads Accounts have greater flexibility in keyword selection, including the ability to bid on more competitive, broad, or generic keywords. This freedom allows businesses to experiment with a wider range of keywords to optimize their reach and performance.
Compliance Requirements
Compliance involves following platform policies related to ad content, behavior, and practices, which protect users and advertisers alike.
Google Ad Grants require strict compliance with a set of program-specific policies in addition to the general Google Ads policies. These include maintaining a high click-through rate (CTR), proper account structure, and mission-based ad content. Failure to comply can result in temporary suspension or loss of the grant. Hence, nonprofits must regularly review and adjust their campaigns to stay compliant and maintain their grant status.
Paid Google Ads Accounts must also adhere to Google Ads policies regarding ad content, practices, and industry-specific regulations. While compliance is mandatory, paid advertisers generally face fewer program-specific requirements than Google Ad Grants recipients. As with Grants, non-compliance can lead to ad disapproval or account suspension.
Support and Resources
Access to support and resources is crucial for advertisers to effectively manage their campaigns, troubleshoot issues, and optimize performance. Quality support can enhance the advertising experience and contribute to campaign success.
Google Ad Grants provide access to a range of online resources, including help articles, community forums, and occasionally live support for troubleshooting and advice. However, the level of direct support may be less comprehensive compared to paid accounts, with a focus on self-service resources.
Paid Google Ads Accounts benefit from a wider array of support options, including direct phone, email, and chat support from Google Ads specialists. It’s a bit more support than with grants.
Account Suspension Policies
Understanding account suspension policies is critical for advertisers to ensure their campaigns continue uninterrupted. These policies enforce platform standards and guidelines, protecting the platform’s integrity and its users. Advertisers must adhere to these policies to avoid disruptions in their advertising efforts.
Google Ad Grants: Has specific suspension policies for non-compliance with the program’s rules, such as failing to meet the minimum click-through rate (CTR), improper account management, or not adhering to ad content guidelines. Nonprofits must regularly review and adjust their campaigns to stay compliant and maintain their grant status.
Paid Google Ads Accounts face suspension for violations of Google Ads policies, including fraudulent activity, misleading content, or severe ad policy violations. Paid advertisers are required to resolve any issues identified by Google to lift the suspension and resume their advertising activities.
Conversion Tracking
Conversion tracking is essential for measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns in achieving desired actions, such as sales, sign-ups, or donations. It allows advertisers to understand how well their ads are converting viewers into customers or supporters, guiding optimization decisions.
Google Ad Grants: provide conversion tracking capabilities, enabling nonprofits to measure the impact of their ads beyond clicks and impressions. This feature helps nonprofits assess the effectiveness of their advertising in driving key actions on their websites, although they might face some limitations in advanced tracking setups due to budget constraints. Paid Google Ads Accounts, meanwhile, offer comprehensive conversion tracking options, including the ability to track multiple types of conversions, use advanced attribution models, and more.
Ad Extensions Availability
Ad extensions enhance ads with additional information, providing more reasons for users to click. They can improve ad visibility, click-through rates, and overall campaign performance by offering extra links, contact details, product information, or promotional messages directly in the ad.
Google Ad Grants allow the use of ad extensions, giving nonprofits the ability to enrich their ads with additional information like site links, callouts, and structured snippets. However, the use and effectiveness of these extensions might be influenced by the overall strategy and budget limitations of the Ad Grants program.
Paid Google Ads Accounts provide full access to a wide range of ad extensions, including more advanced options like location extensions, app extensions, and promotion extensions. Paid advertisers can leverage these tools to significantly enhance their ad’s appeal and effectiveness, tailoring their use to the campaign’s objectives and target audience.
Audience Targeting Options
Effective audience targeting ensures that ads are shown to the most relevant users, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion. Targeting options allow advertisers to refine their audience based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and more, making their campaigns more efficient and cost-effective.
Google Ad Grants offer a variety of audience targeting options, enabling nonprofits to reach specific segments of users based on interests, location, and search behavior. However, the granularity and breadth of targeting options may be somewhat limited compared to what is available to paid accounts, affecting the precision of audience segmentation.
Paid Google Ads Accounts benefit from the full spectrum of Google Ads’ audience targeting capabilities, including detailed demographic targeting, interest and behavior targeting, remarketing, and custom audience lists. This extensive range of options allows businesses to create highly customized and targeted campaigns, optimizing their reach and impact on the intended audience.
Which One Should You Choose: Our Verdict
Generally speaking, if you’re a non-profit, you should at least try to get a Google Ads Grant. Saving any bit of money is useful.
However, if you have certain specific targeting needs, you’re better off with Google Paid Ads. There’s no point wasting your time managing Google Ads if you can’t even reach the right donors.
Either way, you’ll probably want a professional to manage your ads. If you’re working with paid ads, then you don’t want your money to go to waste. And if you’re doing Google Ads Grants, there are certain click-through thresholds that you must meet with your search ads. If you’re not a professional, you’re at a high risk of missing the threshold and losing the grant entirely.
Whoever your charity works with, you want to give them the support they need. New Digital is here to assist you every step of the way. As Google Ads managers with a decade of experience, we’ll be able to tailor a campaign that gets you enough donors to maintain your non-profit.
