Small-and-medium-sized companies are finding more and more online ad options available to them - options that meet their need for local buyers and their stretched balance books. One category has been the daily deal market. Indeed, a case can be made that the proliferation of such deal offerings has whetted small business’ appetite for more online ad formats.

The Facebook Plan

Possibly that is the reason why Facebook is stepping up with a new service next week, reports USA Today. It plans to offer free $50 advertising credits for up to 200,000 small businesses. When an ad is clicked, the advertiser pays a set rate predetermined for that click through. It also comes with Facebook’s targeting capabilities. USA Today gave the example of a wedding photographer, for instance, advertising just to women in a specific ZIP code whose status is "engaged" on Facebook.

Besides the anecdotal evidence provided by the growth in the daily deal market, other research points to a surge in SMB online ad spending. A little more than one in three (36%) small US businesses plan to focus the most resources on web-based marketing and advertising, according to a spring 2011 survey from FedEx Office. This figure is up about 10% from 32% in 2010. Only 16% will focus the most resources on printed materials, down 33% from 24% a year earlier.

SMB Google Credit Card

Another sign of SMBs’ growing clout in this space is the credit card Google is developing for small businesses that use AdWords. In July Reuters reported that Google is planning to offer the card to select U.S. clients. It will have a competitive interest rate, an ample credit line and no annual fee, for the sole purpose of buying search advertising.