Guides · Local Services Ads
Local Services Ads Are Moving to Google Ads: What Changes for You
By Josh Croom · October 27, 2026 · 11 min read
Google is moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads one business at a time, and you still pay only for valid leads. Your ad keeps its spots on Google Search and Google Maps. The move changes where you sign in, how your budget and bids work, and which of your old reports you keep.
An email with a date in it
Tuesday, 6:10 AM. Picture an HVAC owner reading his email in the truck before the first service call of the day. One message from Google says his Local Services Ads are moving to Google Ads, and it names a date two weeks out.
Before he starts the engine, he wants to know if the phone will keep ringing and if he'll still pay only for leads. Both answers are yes, and his leads will show up on a new Leads page in Google Ads. He still needs to check a few settings on move day, because those are the ones that cost real money when nobody looks at them.
How the move works, step by step
Google moves each business on its own date, but the steps run in the same order for everyone.
August 2026
Google started with the busiest trades
The first phase began in August 2026 with chosen home and storefront service businesses in the U.S. Plumbing, HVAC, electrical and appliance repair were among the first trades to go. So were house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control and moving.
Late 2026 and 2027
Everyone else follows
Wider groups move in late 2026, and Google names service area businesses without a storefront among them. Accounts outside the U.S. and every category left over move in 2027. That includes trades with extra checks, like locksmiths and garage door services, which stay on the old Local Services screen until then.
14 days out
The admin on your profile gets an email
Google emails the admin named on your profile 14 days before the move and puts a banner in your Local Services dashboard. Make sure that admin is someone who still reads that inbox, because a notice sent to a person who left last year helps nobody.
7 days out
One last reminder arrives
Google sends a final reminder 7 days after the first email. Use that week to save your reports and write down your budget and bids. Hold any big change to your Business Profile until results settle, because a big change can pause the campaign while Google reviews it.
Move day
The old dashboard sends you to Google Ads
Your settings, past leads and badge carry over on their own. From then on, you sign in to Google Ads to read your leads, rate them and change your budget.
Two weeks after
Results settle
Google says to allow up to two weeks for the move to finish and for results to get back to normal. Judge the new setup on what happens after those two weeks, not on the first few days.
The numbers Google put on the move
Google's help pages put a few hard numbers on the move, and each one changes something you'll see in your account.
- 14 daysof notice before your move datesent to the admin on your profile
- 30.4days in Google's math for a monthyour daily budget times 30.4 caps a month
- 24 to 48hours a big profile change usually takes to reviewand the campaign may pause until it clears
- 2 weeksto allow for results to settleGoogle says up to two weeks after the move
What moves over, and what stays behind
Most of your setup moves on its own. Your old reports don't, so save them before your date.
Stays behind
- Your past reports on how often the ad showed and how often people tapped it.
- Your weekly spend history and your reports for each ad.
- Manual bids, like a top price you set for each lead.
- The Better Business Bureau note on your ad.
Moves over on its own
- Your target areas, job types and business categories.
- Your budget limits and your ad schedule.
- Your business photos, your verified status and your Google Verified badge.
- Your past leads, your messages and your older call recordings.
Save your old reports before the move
Google tells you to save your performance data before your move, because the old campaign reports won't follow you into Google Ads.
Those reports are your only record of how the ads did before the move. Without them, you can't tell whether your cost per lead went up or down afterward. You also lose the busy months and slow months you'd want to look at when you plan next year's budget.
Google says a download page for your old reports is coming to the page the old dashboard sends you to. Until then, it tells you to take screenshots of any report you need before your move date. Either way, keep three things: what you spent each week, how many leads came in, and which job types they came from. A plain spreadsheet works fine.
Your weekly budget turns into a daily one
Google divides your old weekly budget by 7 to set a daily average, and a month can't cost more than that daily figure times 30.4.
A $350 weekly budget becomes $50 a day, and since $50 times 30.4 comes to $1,520, a month can't cost you more than $1,520.
If you knew the old rule, the math lands in the same place. Local Services already capped a month at your weekly budget times 30.4, divided by 7, so the most a month can cost doesn't move. What changes is the number you look at. You'll set and read a daily budget from now on, so take one minute on move day to multiply it by 7 and make sure it matches the weekly budget you meant to spend.
Expect some days to run high. Google says daily spend can go above the daily figure when demand is up, but your bill for the month won't go past the limit, so judge your spend by the month rather than by one busy day.
Manual bids end, and targets merge
After the move you can't set the most you'd pay for one lead anymore, because Google Ads doesn't support manual bids on these campaigns.
Google's own bidding sets the price for each lead instead. If you used separate target costs for different kinds of work under one campaign, Google works out one target for the whole campaign and uses it for every category. The one way to keep separate targets is to move each category into its own campaign.
That matters when your jobs are worth very different amounts. Say a plumber is happy to pay more for a water heater lead than a drain lead, because the water heater job brings in more money. One shared target treats those two leads the same. Write down your targets before the move, and then compare what each kind of job cost you per lead once the two weeks have passed.
Where your leads live in Google Ads
Your leads move to a new Leads page, which you'll find in Google Ads under Goals, then Conversions, then Leads.
- Each lead still shows whether Google charged you for it. The rating form is still there too, so you can keep rating each lead, and you can download the list into your own records.
- The Conversions column counts the leads you paid for, not every lead that came in.
- Cost / conv. is what a charged lead cost you on average, which is your cost per lead under a new name.
- The Better Business Bureau note is gone. Google asks for at least 6 other short callouts on the ad in its place, like your hours or the ways you take payment.
If we run your Local Services Ads, your portal keeps listing every lead with the time it came in, so the list doesn't start over on move day.
Calls and forms
What doesn't change
Most of what made the ads work before the move still holds after it.
Google's call rule fits how people reach a trade. On our home service accounts, 84% of Local Services leads came in as phone calls, not messages or bookings. So answering live in your open hours matters just as much after the move as it did before it.
- The campaign still runs without keywords, so there's no keyword list to build or trim.
- Phone calls are the one kind of lead every campaign has to count. Texts and emails are optional, and so are bookings, which open up in October 2026.
- Your ad doesn't move to YouTube or other Google sites, even though the campaign now carries the Performance Max name.
- Google says it built the new campaigns on the same models as Local Services Ads and picks which ads to show the same way, so your earlier profile work still counts.
- Nobody can start a brand new pay-per-lead campaign inside Google Ads yet, so your current campaign reaches Google Ads through the move.
Are you ready for your move date?
Answer four quick questions. Your answers stay on your own device.
Does the admin email on your Local Services profile reach someone who reads it?
Have you saved your old reports on leads and weekly spend?
Have you written down your weekly budget and any bids or targets you set?
Do you know where to find and rate your leads in Google Ads?
You're ready. Watch your cost per charged lead after the move, and judge the new setup only once Google's two weeks have passed.
You're partway there. Fix the first question you answered No before your reminder email arrives, because reports and settings are hardest to rebuild after the move.
Start with the admin email, because if Google's notice goes to an inbox nobody reads, every other step starts late.
The week after your move
Tick each one off as you go. Your ticks stay on this device.
0 of 7 done
How we handle the move
If we run your Local Services Ads, our system checks your hours, job types, service area, papers and budget. A person on our team makes any change at Google. Our system also keeps its own daily copy of your leads and cost, and your portal reads from that copy.
Open Spots Local is $997 every 4 weeks, plus a $1,997 build paid once, or $0 on the 13-cycle plan. What Google charges for your leads is separate from our fee, and every price we charge is on our pricing page. For the full setup, our Local Services Ads guide walks through it step by step, and our Local Services vs Google Ads study compares the two inside the same businesses.
Talk it through with Miguel
If your move date is coming up and you'd like a second set of eyes on it, book a call with Miguel. He'll ask about your trade, your budget and how leads reach you today, and walk through what the move changes for your account.
Questions people ask
When will my Local Services Ads move to Google Ads?
Google picks a date for each business. The first phase started in August 2026 with chosen home service trades in the U.S., wider groups follow in late 2026, and the rest move in 2027. The admin on your profile gets an email 14 days before your date.
Will I still pay only for leads after the move?
Yes. You still pay only for valid leads, and your ad still shows on Google Search and Google Maps. The campaign carries the Performance Max name, but it doesn't run on YouTube.
What happens to my Local Services budget in Google Ads?
Google divides your weekly budget by 7 to set a daily average, and a month can't cost more than that daily figure times 30.4. A $350 weekly budget becomes $50 a day, with a monthly limit of $1,520.
Can I still set a maximum cost per lead after the move?
No, because manual bids end with the move. If you had separate targets for different categories in one campaign, Google sets one target for the whole campaign, unless each category moves to its own campaign.
Does my Google Verified badge carry over?
Yes. Your verified status and the Google Verified badge move over on their own, and Google says you won't need to reverify your insurance and licenses after the move. Your areas, job types, budget, ad schedule and photos move too. Your old reports on views, clicks and weekly spend don't, so save them first.
See how we run Local Services Ads for trades
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