The pandemic put significant strain on SMBs globally. For LGBTQ+ friendly spaces, the impact was felt more acutely.

Due to social bias and/or lack of government support, LGBTQ+ friendly spaces face adversity other businesses don't. So when COVID-19 hit, the SMBs, clinics and nonprofits who serve the LGBTQ+ community went into the crisis with fewer resources.

As places that survived started carving a path forward in 2021, it was clear the road to recovery would be long after teetering on closure for more than a year.

As a global tech company, Google makes it their responsibility to “build for everyone.” This critical moment was a chance for Google to put that commitment into action and support the economic recovery through its products. We could drive business for these spaces by driving adoption of new tools designed to help people discover LGBTQ+ friendly spaces in some of Google’s most-used products.