Changing now · as of October 20, 2026
US accounts are moving from Local Services Ads to Google Ads (Performance Max with pay-per-lead goals), starting August 2026. Manual max cost-per-lead bidding goes away.
"August 2026: The first phase of the migration begins for select home and storefront service advertisers in the United States (including plumbing, HVAC, electrical, appliance repair, house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control, and moving)." Google
Google is rolling this out in phases. The date above is when we last checked Google's migration page.
The bottom line
With no published price, Google’s lead rules decide what you pay. A repeat contact from the same customer within 15 days is free, but Google no longer credits leads for job types or areas you don’t serve. When your account moves to Google Ads, leads are charged the same way; the dashboard, budget and bidding change.
How Google charges, in Google's words
Visit Google Local Services Ads- Price per lead
- Not published
- No rate card; price varies.
- "Lead prices may vary depending on your location, the job type, the type of lead, or your bidding mode, but each lead received will count towards your budget." Source
- What counts as a paid lead
- Answered call, missed call over 20 seconds in business hours, text or email, voicemail, booking request
- "You missed a phone call during your business hours and the customer stays on the line for more than 20 seconds." Source
- Repeat contacts
- Same customer within 15 days is not charged again
- "Once a lead is charged, any follow-up calls or messages with that customer are not charged again, provided there is interaction within 15 days and the contact comes from the same phone number or email address." Source
- Credits for bad leads
- Automatic credits only; no credit for wrong job type or outside service area; credits usually within 30 days
- "Google no longer supports credits for “job type not serviced” and “geo not serviced” leads." Source
- "In most cases, credits will be applied to your account balance within 30 days. Note that the original lead charge will still appear on your invoice." Source
- Other advertisers
- Not published
- Message-lead price depends partly on whether the customer contacted other advertisers, so leads are not described as exclusive.
- "Whether the customer has contacted other Local Services advertisers" Source
- Contract
- Not published
- No term or contract described on the pages we checked; campaigns can be paused.
- "You can temporarily stop receiving leads at any time." Source
Quotes copied from Google Local Services Ads' own pages, checked Oct 20, 2026.
What changes when your account moves
Google is moving US advertisers in phases. What Google says happens on your migration day:
The move to Google Ads, from Google's migration page
Visit Google Local Services Ads- Who moves when
- August 2026: first US phase (named home and storefront service categories); late 2026: service-area businesses without storefronts and accounts with custom bidding or booking; 2027: non-US accounts and all remaining categories
- "Late 2026: The migration expands to broader advertiser groups, including service-area businesses without physical storefronts and accounts with custom bidding or booking configurations." Source
- "2027: Non-U.S. accounts, and all remaining business categories that were not migrated in 2026 will transition to Google Ads." Source
- Your budget
- On migration day the average weekly budget is divided by 7 to make a daily average budget; monthly spend is capped at the daily average budget x 30.4
- "Your historical average weekly budget is automatically divided by 7 to determine your daily average budget. This change does not affect your monthly spend, which is capped at your daily average budget multiplied by 30.4 (the average number of days in a month)." Source
- Bidding
- US accounts migrating to Performance Max with pay-per-lead goals from August 2026; manual max cost-per-lead bidding removed
- "August 2026: The first phase of the migration begins for select home and storefront service advertisers in the United States (including plumbing, HVAC, electrical, appliance repair, house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control, and moving)." Source
- "Manual bidding (such as setting a maximum cost-per-lead) is no longer supported in Google Ads." Source
- Google Verified badge
- Google Verified badge and verified status carry over; insurance and license reverification no longer required
- "your verified status and your Google Verified badge will transfer to Google Ads automatically. Insurance and license reverification are no longer required" Source
- Warning before the move
- Email 14 days before your migration date, a reminder 7 days later; allow up to two weeks for performance to settle
- "The account administrator listed on your profile will receive an advance notification email 14 days before your migration date, along with warning banners inside your current dashboard. A final reminder email is sent 7 days later." Source
- "allow up to two weeks for the migration process to fully complete and for your campaign performance to ramp back to stable levels." Source
- Your old reports
- Old Local Services Ads dashboard and past performance reports are no longer accessible after migration; save them first
- "Note that previous performance reports will no longer be accessible." Source
Quotes copied from Google Local Services Ads' own pages, checked Oct 20, 2026.
What to do now:
- Download your lead history and reports. Google says past performance reports won’t be accessible after the move.
- Write down your current max cost per lead. Manual bidding goes away, so you’ll be managing a target instead.
- Check your budget math. Your weekly budget becomes a daily one (weekly ÷ 7), and the month is capped at the daily figure × 30.4. Your monthly cap shouldn’t change.
- Tighten service types and areas, since leads outside them aren’t credited.
Local Services Ads or regular Google Ads?
| Local Services Ads | Google search ads | |
|---|---|---|
| You pay for | Each valid lead (call, message, booking) | Each click, whether or not they call |
| Keywords | None: you pick services and areas | You choose and bid on keywords |
| Price published | No | No |
Who it’s for, and who should skip it
Good fit: trades in Google’s first wave (plumbing, HVAC, electrical, appliance repair, house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control, moving) that answer the phone in business hours.
Skip it if: you miss a lot of calls. A missed call where the caller waits over 20 seconds in business hours is still a charged lead.
What a Google lead costs you per job
Put in your cost per lead from your account and your close rate.
Cost per won job on Google Local Services Ads
Job numbers below are examples: put in yours. A platform box is filled in only when the platform publishes that number.
- Google Local Services Adsprice not published, enter yours below
Google Local Services Ads
Enter your Google Local Services Ads lead price to see the cost
"Most you can pay per lead" is the lead price where profit after leads is zero at your close rate. "Break-even close rate" is the share of reached leads you need to win to cover the month's lead costs.
Every unanswered lead is money spent twice: once on the lead, again on the next one. Field service apps that reply and book for you
Paying per click instead? See what Yelp Ads cost, or visit Yelp Ads. Compare platforms in the cost per job calculator or the contractor leads hub.
Get told when these prices change
Providers change fees with little notice. Alerts start soon, and we'll send nothing else.
Common questions
How much do Google Local Services Ads cost per lead?
Google doesn't publish a price. Its help center says lead prices vary by location, job type, lead type and bidding mode. You set a budget, and each charged lead counts toward it. After a US account moves to Google Ads, your average cost per lead shows as "Cost / conv." in the campaign dashboard.
Do I pay for every call from Local Services Ads?
No. You pay for valid leads: answered calls, missed calls in business hours where the caller stays on the line over 20 seconds, messages, voicemails and booking requests. If the same customer contacts you again within 15 days from the same number or email, you are not charged again.
Can I get a credit for a bad Local Services lead?
Credits are now automatic only, and usually reach your balance within 30 days. Google no longer gives credits for leads asking for a job type you don't do or an area you don't serve, so keep your service types and areas tight.
What is the difference between Local Services Ads and Google Ads?
Local Services Ads charge per lead and need no keywords. Regular Google search ads charge per click, whether or not the person calls. From August 2026, US Local Services Ads are moving into Google Ads as Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals, still keywordless and still charged per lead.
Does the Google Guaranteed badge carry over?
Google's migration page says that if you completed business verification, your verified status and your Google Verified badge move to Google Ads automatically, and insurance and license reverification are no longer required.
What happened to Google Screened and Google Guaranteed?
Google says it is "launching a single badge for all advertisers": Google Verified. Advertisers who completed verification get it automatically. Google has also ended the Money Back Guarantee that came with the Google Guarantee badge: customers could claim only for services booked before December 7, 2025, within 30 days of the job.