Google Ads
5 min read
Local Services Ads Are Moving Into Google Ads
If your phone rings from the badged ads at the very top of Google, the way you manage them is about to change. Most of it is fine. A few parts deserve your attention before the switch.
The short answer
Google is moving Local Services Ads into the main Google Ads platform as pay-per-lead Performance Max campaigns, starting with a small group of U.S. advertisers in August 2026 and continuing through 2027. You still pay per lead and still show on Search and Maps. Budgets become daily, manual bidding goes away, one target cost per lead covers every service in a campaign, and old reports do not transfer. Download your history before your account moves.
What is actually happening
Local Services Ads have always lived in their own dashboard, separate from regular Google Ads. Google is ending that. LSAs become a campaign type inside Google Ads, built on Performance Max but still keywordless, still shown only on Search and Maps, and still billed per valid lead: calls, messages and bookings.
Google started in August 2026 with a small group of U.S. home and storefront service advertisers: plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, pest control, house cleaning, lawn care and moving. Late 2026 brings service-area businesses without a storefront, which covers a lot of contractors here in Monmouth County. Non-U.S. accounts and the remaining categories move in 2027. Account admins get a notice 14 days before their account moves and a reminder seven days later.
What changes
Budgets go from weekly to daily.
Manual bidding on a maximum cost per lead is no longer supported.
One campaign-level target cost per lead replaces separate targets by service category.
Business name, address and standard hours sync from your Google Business Profile.
The LSA inbox is replaced by Lead Manager inside Google Ads.
BBB callouts are no longer supported.
Lead history transfers. Historical performance reports do not, and the old dashboard closes after migration.
The change most contractors will feel
The single target cost per lead. A company running HVAC and plumbing in one LSA account may have set very different targets for each, because a no-heat emergency and a water heater quote are not worth the same. After the move, Google calculates one target across both.
You can split services into separate campaigns to keep separate targets. The catch is that each campaign then has less data to learn from, and a lower-volume shop may get better bidding from one combined campaign. Decide with your own numbers: lead volume, cost per lead, close rate and job value by service. Our cost per call benchmarks for home services are a good place to start.
What to do before your account moves
Download your LSA performance reports now. They will not come with you.
Check that your Google Business Profile name, address and hours are exactly right. A significant name or address change can trigger a 24 to 48 hour review and pause the campaign.
Write down your current budget, targets, service categories, service areas, ad schedule and lead phone number so you can check them after the move.
Replace any BBB callout with other callouts. Google suggests at least six.
Give it about two weeks after migration before you judge performance.
The upside
One account, one login, and LSA leads sitting next to your search campaigns. For a Monmouth County roofer or HVAC company running both, the question of which one actually books jobs gets much easier to answer, as long as call tracking is set up properly. That’s how we approach Google Ads management for home service businesses.
If your account hasn’t moved yet and you want someone to check it first, Book a Call.
Related reading
Sources: Google Ads Help and Search Engine Journal coverage of the Local Services migration, July 2026. Call 732-398-6700 if you want us to look at your account before it moves.
Follow-up questions
No. Google moves accounts in phases and emails admins 14 days ahead, with a reminder a week later. What you should do is download your reports and check your settings before and after.
Yes. Billing stays per valid lead, including calls, messages and bookings, not per click.
Only if the services have very different lead values and enough volume each to give Google data to learn from. Otherwise one combined campaign often bids better.
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