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Google is to waive ad-serving fees for eligible publishers for five months and has launched an emergency relief fund for small or local newsrooms in an attempt to salvage publishers struggling financially during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The search giant announced that it will waive ad-serving fees for select news publishers globally today (Friday), in recognition of how many news organisations rely on Google Ad Manager to support their digital sites. It will be notifying eligible partners over the coming days and will be waiving fees for five months.

Jason Washing, director of global partnerships – news, said in a blog post that the fee-waiving is one of the ways the Google News Initiative is looking to help news organisations "reduce some of the cost of managing their businesses and funding important journalism during this time".

He said: "During times of global crisis, people rely on quality journalism to stay informed and safe. And the ads that appear alongside news coverage help fund the journalists who write breaking news stories and keep news sites and apps running."

Earlier this week, Google launched a Journalism Emergency Relief Fund globally. The funding is open to news organisations producing original news for local communities during this time of crisis and will range from small, hyper-local newsrooms to larger newsrooms, with variations per region. Publishers everywhere can apply for funds via an application form.

Google's philanthropy arm, Google.org, has also donated $1m collectively to the International Center for Journalists, which plans to provide immediate resources to support reporters globally, and the Columbia Journalism School's Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, which is helping journalists exposed to traumatic events experienced during the crisis.

In March, Facebook pledged to invest $100m to support the news industry during Covid-19, $25m of which will be provided in grant funding for local news organisations, with the remaining $75m to come in the form of "additional marketing spend" to worldwide news organisations.