A new report by Google says its search and advertising tools continued to spur economic activity for Connecticut businesses, nonprofit organizations and website publishers last year.
The 2018 Economic Impact Report released Monday by the California tech giant says organizations in the state generated $5.4 billion in economic activity last year by using its services to network and raise their online presence.
That represents a 32 percent increase from the $4.1 billion Google, the most visited website in the world, helped local entities generate in 2017.
The economic surge resulted despite fewer businesses and nonprofits utilizing Google’s services last year. Google said that 12,000 entities employed their search/advertising tools last year vs. 14,000 in 2017.
Connecticut ranked No. 15 in the nation in total economic impact driven by Google’s services even though the state ranked No. 29 for number of organizations using its digital tools.
In New England, Google provided a $13.4 billion impact for Massachusetts organizations, followed by Vermont ($2.1 billion), New Hampshire ($671 million), Maine ($560 million) and Rhode Island ($398 million).
Nationally, Google every month facilitates more than 1 billion connections, including calls and online reservations, for businesses nationwide.
Google earlier this year provided free digital skills workshops and one-on-one coaching services for more than 500 Connecticut jobseekers and small business leaders in Hartford, New Haven and New London.
