Local Services Ads Are Moving Into Google Ads: What Trade Contractors Should Do Before Their Account Switches

01 / 08

What is changing when Local Services Ads move into Google Ads?

Local Services Ads accounts are being moved into Google Ads as a special Performance Max campaign type with pay-per-lead goals. You still pay only for valid leads such as calls and messages, and the ads still appear only on Google Search and Google Maps. What changes is where you manage them: budgets, bidding, photos, callouts and the lead inbox all move into Google Ads (Google Ads Help, 2026).

Google lists what stays the same in plain terms. Its own words: "You still only pay for valid leads (such as phone calls and messages) rather than ad clicks." The campaign also stays keywordless, so targeting still comes from the service categories and areas you pick (Google Ads Help, 2026).

Standard Performance Max is a different product. It charges per click and runs across YouTube, Gmail and the Display Network. The pay-per-lead version a Local Services Ads account becomes does neither: it charges per lead and stays on Search and Maps (Google Ads Help, 2026). If someone tells you the move turns your ads into click ads, show them that page.

02 / 08

When will a Florida service-area contractor's account switch?

Google is moving accounts in phases. The first phase began in August 2026 for select United States home and storefront service advertisers, including plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, lawn care and pest control. Service-area businesses without a physical storefront follow in late 2026, and non-U.S. accounts and remaining categories in 2027 (Google Ads Help, 2026).

Most Naples and Fort Myers contractors run from a truck, not a storefront, which puts them in the late 2026 group. Census counted 216 plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor establishments in Collier County and 550 in Lee County in 2023 (Census County Business Patterns, 2023), and every one of them that advertises this way is on Google's clock.

Google has not published a date per state or per trade. What it does publish is the warning: "The account administrator listed on your profile will receive an advance notification email 14 days before your migration date," with banners in the dashboard and a final reminder a week later (Google Ads Help, 2026).

That 14-day email is the deadline that matters, and it goes to one address. If the administrator on your profile is a former office manager or an agency you no longer use, you will not see it. Check who it is today.

Google also runs a support line for migrating advertisers, +1-844-205-0011, Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM EST (Google Ads Help, 2026).

03 / 08

How does Google turn a weekly LSA budget into a Performance Max budget?

Google divides your historical average weekly budget by 7 to get a daily average budget, then caps monthly spend at that daily average multiplied by 30.4, the average number of days in a month. A $700 weekly budget becomes $100 a day with a $3,040 monthly cap. Daily spend can run higher on busy days, but the month cannot exceed the cap (Google Ads Help, 2026).

Google states both rules in one place: "Your historical average weekly budget is automatically divided by 7 to determine your daily average budget," and monthly spend "is capped at your daily average budget multiplied by 30.4" (Google Ads Help, 2026).

The monthly ceiling barely moves. Google already described the old monthly maximum as your average weekly budget multiplied by the average number of weeks in a month (Google Local Services, 2026). Dividing by 7 and multiplying by 30.4 works out to about 4.34 weeks, so a $700 week caps near $3,040 either way.

What does change is how you think about a week. A storm week can spend more than one-seventh of the month, and the slow week after it less. Read the monthly line on your invoice, not the daily number, before you decide the budget is off.

04 / 08

What should a contractor export before the switch?

Save your Local Services Ads performance reports before your account moves, because Google says past campaign metrics such as impressions, clicks, weekly spend and ad-level reports will not migrate to Google Ads. Google says a download page is coming, and until then it recommends screenshots. Your past leads, messages and call recordings do move (Google Ads Help, 2026).

Google's answer to "Will my campaign performance reports (total spend, leads, etc.) carry over?" is one word: "No." Once the account moves, the old dashboard redirects to Google Ads and the old reports are gone from view (Google Ads Help, 2026).

1. Screenshot every report you use. Weekly spend, lead counts by job type, and cost per lead, for at least the last 12 months if the dashboard shows them.
2. Download your lead list. The lead history moves, but a copy in your own CRM or spreadsheet is yours whatever happens next.
3. Write down your settings. Service areas, job types, business hours, ad schedule, weekly budget and any bid limits.
4. Record your cost per booked job. Divide last quarter's spend by the jobs those leads turned into. Google does not report booked jobs; your office does.

That last number is the one you will want in December. Google Ads will show "Conversions," which on this campaign type means leads you were charged for, plus "Cost" and "Cost / conv." (Google Ads Help, 2026). None of those tells you which leads became paying work. Your own before-and-after comparison depends on what you save now.

05 / 08

Which settings stop working after the migration?

Three things stop working. Manual bidding, including a maximum cost per lead, is no longer supported. Category-level Target CPA is replaced by one campaign-level target unless you run separate campaigns per trade. And Better Business Bureau callouts are no longer supported, so Google asks you to choose at least 6 other structured callouts (Google Ads Help, 2026).

The bidding change matters most to contractors who run more than one trade from one account. Google says that if you managed different Target CPA amounts for separate verticals in one campaign, "a unified campaign-level Target CPA will be calculated and applied to all vertical categories" (Google Ads Help, 2026).

A shop that bid one way for drain cleaning and another for water heater replacement loses that split on transition day. Google's fix is separate campaigns per vertical, and its own example is plumbing and HVAC. Because new pay-per-lead campaigns cannot yet be created inside Google Ads, that setup still happens through Local Services at g.co/localservices (Google Ads Help, 2026).

The BBB callout is the easy one to miss. If your ad leaned on "BBB accredited," pick six replacements now from the structured callouts Google offers, such as business hours, specialties or accepted payment methods. You can also add up to 100 more business photos on the Assets page (Google Ads Help, 2026).

06 / 08

What carries over automatically, and what does not?

Google moves your locations, service types, business categories, budget limits, ad schedule and business photos automatically, along with your past leads, messages and call recordings. Your verified status and Google Verified badge carry over, and insurance and license reverification is no longer required. Past performance reports are the main thing that does not carry over (Google Ads Help, 2026).

The verification change is good news for Florida contractors. When you first joined, Google checked your license "against the state or country databases" and required that "All owners of the business must complete a criminal background check" (Google Local Services screening, 2026). Google now says that "Insurance and license reverification are no longer required" after the move (Google Ads Help, 2026).

Keep your Florida license active anyway. Customers can look it up on the state's DBPR site, and an expired license is a bigger problem than any ad setting.

07 / 08

Why should the Business Profile be fixed before it starts syncing one way?

After the switch, your business name, address and hours flow one way from your Google Business Profile into Google Ads and cannot be edited there. Google runs that sync daily. A significant change to your business name, storefront address or primary category triggers a verification review that typically takes 24 to 48 hours, and your campaign may pause while it runs (Google Ads Help, 2026).

That makes the Business Profile the control panel for your ads, not just your map listing. Hours, phone number and minor name updates sync within 24 hours. Bigger changes go to review (Google Ads Help, 2026).

Fix the profile before your switch date, not after. A contractor who renames the company, changes the primary category from "Plumber" to something broader, or moves the address in the week after migration can pause their own leads for up to two days, in the middle of whatever season it is.

Service areas and ad schedules work the other way. After migration they "operate independently of your Google Business Profile," so you can target your ads differently from your organic listing (Google Ads Help, 2026). Use that to keep ads on the towns you actually want to drive to.

The same profile drives your Google Maps ranking. If it has the wrong category or thin reviews, it is costing you twice. Our Local Services Ads management work starts with the profile for that reason.

08 / 08

What should a contractor watch in the first two weeks after the switch?

Google says to "allow up to two weeks for the migration process to fully complete and for your campaign performance to ramp back to stable levels." In those two weeks, check that leads are arriving, that the right person gets the lead emails, and that calls during your listed hours are answered, because missed calls can still be charged (Google Ads Help, 2026).

The call rule surprises a lot of owners. Google counts a lead as valid when "You missed a phone call during your business hours and the customer stays on the line for more than 20 seconds." Voicemails, text messages and emails count too (Google Local Services, 2026). If the phone rings out while your crew is on a roof, you can still pay for that call.

Two fixes cost nothing. List only the hours someone actually answers, and route lead calls to a phone that is answered. Google Ads lets you change the number that receives call and message leads (Google Ads Help, 2026).

Check the lead emails as well. Every user on the account is opted in to lead notifications by default, and at least one user has to stay opted in (Google Ads Help, 2026). Make sure the person who books jobs is one of them.

Then look at credits. Google assesses lead quality over a 30-day period and credits low-quality leads automatically, but it "no longer supports credits for 'job type not serviced' and 'geo not serviced' leads" (Google Local Services credits, 2026). Tight service areas and job types now protect your budget more than a dispute can.

If you would rather not do this alone, send us your account before the email arrives. We will review your Local Services Ads settings, your Business Profile and your website together and tell you what to fix first, at no charge. Start with the free audit or book a call.