Google has announced a major overhaul of how local service providers advertise on Google Search and Maps. Local Services Ads (LSAs) are officially transitioning into Google Ads as a specialised Performance Max campaign type with pay-per-lead goals.

For home services, trades, and local professional firms, this is one of the most significant platform shifts in recent years. While the familiar pay-per-lead model and top-of-page placements remain intact, the way campaigns are managed, bid on, and reported is changing entirely.

What Is Changing And What Isn’t?

What Stays the Same

• Pay-Per-Lead Billing: You still only pay for valid, qualified leads (such as phone calls and direct messages) rather than ad clicks.
• Ad Placements: Ads will continue to appear exclusively at the top of Google Search results and on Google Maps.
• Keywordless Targeting: Targeting remains based on your selected service categories and geographic service areas rather than manual keyword lists.
• Google Verified Badge: Your verified status and Google badge will transfer automatically across to the new setup.

Key Changes to Watch Out For

• Unified Google Ads Dashboard: The standalone LSA dashboard is being retired. Managing budgets, adjusting targeting, and responding to lead messages will now take place directly inside the main Google Ads platform.
• Daily Budgets Replacing Weekly Budgets: Google Ads operates on daily average budgets. On migration day, your weekly budget will automatically be divided by 7 to set your new daily budget limit.
• Deprecation of Manual Bidding & Vertical Target CPA: Manual bidding strategies (such as max cost-per-lead) and vertical-level Target CPA are being phased out in favour of automated Google Ads bidding configurations.
• Google Business Profile Integration: Core details like business name, address, and opening hours will sync directly from your Google Business Profile (GBP) to Google Ads.
• BBB Callouts Removed: Better Business Bureau callouts are no longer supported. Advertisers will need to set up structured callouts in Google Ads (e.g. payment methods, operating hours, or sub-specialities) to highlight key credentials.

Migration Timeline

Google is rolling out this transition in phases:

Account administrators will receive an advance email notification 14 days before their scheduled migration date, followed by a reminder 7 days prior.

Back Up Your Historical Data

While your past customer lead contacts and message logs will transfer into the new Lead Manager tab, you must manually export and download your performance reports from the LSA dashboard prior to migration day if you wish to preserve your historical data.

How Local Businesses Should Prepare

1. Back Up Performance Reports: Download all historical metrics from your LSA dashboard immediately or set a reminder ahead of your regional rollout.
2. Audit Your Google Business Profile: Ensure your GBP name, physical address, and opening hours are accurate, as these will sync directly into Google Ads.
3. Review Bidding Rules: If you currently manage different target CPAs for separate service verticals under one account, consider splitting them into individual campaigns post-migration to maintain granular bidding control.
4. Set Up Structured Assets: Replace deprecated callouts with at least six structured callout assets within Google Ads to maintain ad prominence.

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