Google Local Services Ads (LSA) Review

About Google Local Services Ads (LSA)

Google Local Services Ads (LSA) are pay-per-lead ads that Google shows at the top of Search results when people look for local services such as plumbing, HVAC or roofing. A customer can call, message or send a booking request straight from the ad, and Google says you only pay when a potential customer gets in touch through it, not when someone clicks.

Before an ad runs, Google screens the business. For US home services, Google lists business and owner background checks (plus service professional checks in select categories), state-level business and owner licenses, insurance that depends on category and location, and a public, verified Google Business Profile. Google says this takes 3-4 weeks on average after you submit documents. Businesses that pass show a Google Verified badge. In 2025 Google replaced the older Google Guaranteed and Google Screened badges with this single badge and ended the money-back guarantee that came with Google Guaranteed.

Google sets lead prices and publishes no rate card: it says prices vary by location, job type, lead type and bidding, and that message leads are typically charged at lower rates than phone leads. Google's How leads work page says answered calls, voicemails, messages and booking requests (US and Canada only) can be charged, and that an unanswered call during your business hours and active ad schedule is charged if the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds; a voicemail or automated greeting is charged on the same 20-second basis whether or not the caller leaves a message. For Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals, Google says the phone-call goal tracks answered calls, voicemails and return calls to missed connections, and you are charged only for valid phone leads that meet minimum call duration requirements. Google says it does not charge for leads it judges invalid, re-reviews charged leads and may credit low-quality ones automatically, usually within 30 days, and lets US and Canadian advertisers dispute leads. It no longer credits leads for a job type or area you do not serve.

LSA is being folded into Google Ads. Google says local services campaigns become Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals in phases: select US home and storefront service advertisers (including plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing and pest control) from August 2026, service-area businesses without storefronts in late 2026, and non-US accounts and remaining categories in 2027. After migration, manual cost-per-lead bidding goes away, weekly budgets become daily averages, the old LSA dashboard redirects to Google Ads, and past performance reports are no longer available, so Google advises downloading them first. Past leads carry over to the Google Ads Leads page.

The trade-off: LSA puts a screened listing at the top of Google and bills per contact rather than per click, but you accept Google's pricing, a few weeks of screening, charges for unanswered calls once the caller has stayed on the line for more than 20 seconds, and a mid-migration product whose bidding controls and reporting are changing.