Google Philippines recently introduced initiatives to support the country’s safe economic recovery through its MSME Caravan, free listings on Google Shopping Tab, and Google Maps for local tourism.
In partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry, MSME Caravan aims to train micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) on how to grow their business efficiently using a wide array of digital tools such as the Google My Business and Primer app, plus access to experts.
The program planned to deliver on this goal via physical events when it was announced last February 2020 and shifted to webinars when the pandemic hit, helping small businesses acquire digital skills to continue serving their customers online.
To date, the training program has reached more than 14,000 business owners for 2020 alone. MSMEs interested to join the training can register through the campaign website.
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Apart from providing free training, Google Philippines also aims to help businesses by inspiring them through stories of hope from the MSME community. As part of the MSME Caravan updates, the company launched an online video featuring Dalareich Chocolate House from Bohol, White Beard Coffee from Siargao, and Kanami Supplies (woven face masks) from Quezon City who shared how they started and how the pandemic challenged them to rise above difficulties.
Google Philippines also announced that Filipino merchants can now list their products on the Google Shopping tab for FREE. For MSMEs, this means free exposure to millions of people who come to Google every day for their shopping needs. For shoppers, it means more products from more stores, discoverable through the Google Shopping tab. For advertisers, it means paid campaigns can now be augmented with free listings.
In terms of supporting safe local tourism, Filipinos will soon be able to discover things to do and places to go in the Explore tab on Google Maps as recommended by the Department of Tourism. By following the DoT’s profile in Google Maps when this becomes available soon, people can get recommendations that range from restaurants and shopping malls to cultural attractions and other tourism activities across the country.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
