Businesses get $60 million budget boost to advertise on Facebook, Instagram

Australian businesses will get a $60 million boost in Tuesday's budget to spend on Facebook, Instagram and Google and other forms of international marketing, in a bid to drive digital exports and compete with businesses in the US and UK. The advertising subsidy increase will be announced by Trade Minister Simon Birmingham on Friday, through the export market development grant program, which has been accessed by more than 3500 companies. Sydney-based clothes firm, Showpo, which will generate up to $85 million in sales over the next year, has used $223,114 in taxpayer funding from the scheme over the past four years to run ads on Google, Facebook and Instagram.