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Grow with Google: ‘We’ve seen a huge increase in “buy local online” searches’

Alice Mansergh, director of customer solutions for UK & Ireland at Google

Alice Mansergh
Alice Mansergh

"SMEs are entrepreneurial, passionate, creative and significant contributors to the economy, but the impact of the pandemic has been severe. In direct response to the pandemic, we adapted our Grow with Google initiative to better support SMEs through this time.

“We committed to helping 60,000 businesses recover by providing free online tools, webinars and mentoring, and the new Grow with Google website, which provides a step-by-step guide to getting online. In all of this, our goal has been to help businesses leverage the online tools that are available to them to continue to reach customers, to sustain their business and ultimately, recover and drive growth.

“The good news for businesses is that consumers want to buy local online. We’ve seen a huge increase in ‘buy local online’ searches on Google during the pandemic. We’re passionate about partnering with local businesses to help them get online and grow.”