Google Local Services Ads & Google Ads Management for Home-Service Businesses
Verlua runs Google Local Services Ads and Google Ads Search campaigns for contractors and home-service businesses. We handle your LSA profile and Google Verified paperwork, set the budget and lead goals, review every lead and send feedback for credits, keep new reviews coming in, and build and manage your Search campaigns. You pay ad spend to Google directly. No minimum contract.
Mark Shvaya, Founder & Technical DirectorUpdated October 6, 2026
Google Search, mobile resultsIllustrative example
water heater repair near me
Sponsored · Local services
Your Plumbing Co.Your ad
Google Verified4.9 (87 reviews)
Serves Roseville · Open 24 hoursCallMessage
Competitor A
Google Verified4.7 (212 reviews)
Serves Sacramento · Open nowCallMessage
Competitor B
Google Verified4.8 (45 reviews)
Serves Rocklin · Closes 6 PMCallMessage
Charged per valid lead (a call, message or booking), not per click.
Sample business names, ratings and review counts. Not client data.
What we manage
What does our Google Local Services Ads management cover?
Two channels, run from one weekly lead review. Local Services Ads put you in the box at the top of Google with a Google Verified badge and charge per lead. Search ads charge per click and send people to your site. Because we see both, budget moves to whichever one books jobs.
Local Services Ads
Pay per lead. No website required.
Profile, categories and every job type you offer
Google Verified paperwork: license, insurance, background checks
Budget and lead goals: weekly budget and bidding mode on classic LSA, daily budget and target cost per lead in Google Ads
Lead review, booked status and feedback for credits
Review requests so your rating and count keep growing
The move into Google Ads, when your account's turn comes
LSA leads · this weekIllustrative example
6 leads3 booked2 flagged to Google
Water heater repairRoseville · Call · Mon 8:14 AMBooked
Sewer lineOutside service area · Call · Thu 11:52 AMFeedback sent
Solicitation callNot a customer · Call · Fri 4:18 PMFeedback sent
Sample leads, not client data. “Feedback sent” means the lead was flagged through Google’s lead feedback; Google decides whether to credit it.
Google Search ads
Pay per click. Your landing page does the selling.
Keywords by job type, with negatives for work you don't do
Ads, call assets and schedules matched to your hours
Location targeting limited to your service area
Call and form tracking that ends at booked jobs
Weekly search-terms review to cut wasted clicks
Landing page fixes, since we build websites too
Weekly ads report · week 6Illustrative example
Sample week: spend, leads, booked jobs, cost per lead and cost per booked job by channel
Channel
Per lead
Per booked job
Local Services Ads$1,000 spend · 20 leads · 8 booked
$50
$125
Google Search ads$600 spend · 12 leads · 3 booked
$50
$200
Total$1,600 spend · 32 leads · 11 booked
$50
$145
Local Services Ads
$50 per lead
$125 per booked job
Google Search ads
$50 per lead
$200 per booked job
Both channels cost $50 per lead. Search cost $75 more per booked job, so next week’s budget leans toward the LSA job types that book.
Sample numbers, not client data. Cost per booked job = spend ÷ jobs that went on the calendar.
2026 platform change
Local Services Ads are moving into Google Ads
Google is turning LSA into Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals. The move started in August 2026 for select US home and storefront service businesses, widens in late 2026, and reaches non-US accounts and the remaining categories in 2027. Existing campaigns migrate automatically, with emails to admins 14 and 7 days ahead; new campaigns still start at g.co/localservices for now. We manage both setups: classic LSA accounts and the new Google Ads campaigns.
Your average weekly budget is divided by 7 to set a daily average budget
Past performance metrics and reports don't carry over
Tip: download your LSA performance reports before your migration date, since Google says they won't carry over.
Choosing a channel
Should you run Local Services Ads, Search ads, or both?
Start with LSA if your trade is eligible and someone answers the phone fast. Add Search ads for job types LSA doesn't cover, or when the LSA box in your market is crowded. PPC for contractors only pays when the page it lands on turns clicks into calls, so we check the site before Search ads go live.
Local Services Ads compared with Google Search ads and running both
Factor
Local Services Ads
Google Search ads
Both
How you're billed
Per valid lead: a call, message or booking
Per click to your website
Per lead on LSA, per click on Search
Where it shows
The local services box at the top of results, plus some Maps placements
Text ads above and below the organic results
Two separate spots on the same results page
Landing page needed
No. A verified Google Business Profile is required instead
Yes, and the page sets your cost per lead
Yes, for the Search side
Best for
Eligible trades that answer the phone fast
Job types LSA doesn't cover, or tighter control of keywords and schedules
Eligible trades with a page that converts, in markets where the LSA box is crowded
Local Services Ads
How you're billed
Per valid lead: a call, message or booking
Where it shows
The local services box at the top of results, plus some Maps placements
Landing page needed
No. A verified Google Business Profile is required instead
Best for
Eligible trades that answer the phone fast
Google Search ads
How you're billed
Per click to your website
Where it shows
Text ads above and below the organic results
Landing page needed
Yes, and the page sets your cost per lead
Best for
Job types LSA doesn't cover, or tighter control of keywords and schedules
Both
How you're billed
Per lead on LSA, per click on Search
Where it shows
Two separate spots on the same results page
Landing page needed
Yes, for the Search side
Best for
Eligible trades with a page that converts, in markets where the LSA box is crowded
Five steps, from the first call to the monthly report. Google runs the verification checks and sets that timeline, so we don't promise a launch date until Google shows every check complete.
Thirty minutes on your trade, service area, job types, average ticket and who answers the phone. If you already run ads, we open the accounts together.
You get a recommendation (LSA, Search or both) and a scoped management fee.
2
Before launch
Business Profile and verification paperwork
We confirm your Google Business Profile is verified and that the names on your license and insurance match it, then gather the documents and submit them to Google.
You provide the license, insurance certificate and the people Google needs to background check.
3
Launch
Budget, lead goals, job types and service area
On classic LSA accounts we set the weekly budget and bidding mode; once Google moves your account into Google Ads, it's a daily budget and a target cost per lead. Either way, we switch on every job type you do and draw the area you actually drive. Search campaigns go live with call and form tracking already in place.
You approve the budget before anything spends.
4
Every week
Lead review and feedback
We listen to call recordings, read messages, mark booked jobs and send feedback on spam, wrong-area and wrong-service leads. On Search, we cut the search terms that waste clicks.
You get a short note on what changed and why.
5
Every month
Reporting
Cost per booked job by channel and job type, the credit rate on LSA leads, missed calls, and the plan for next month.
You decide where the next dollar goes.
Google Verified
What does Google check before you get the Google Verified badge?
Every LSA advertiser has to pass Google's screening before ads run, and the checks depend on your category and state. Google began replacing Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and License Verified by Google with one Google Verified badge in October 2025, and the badge stays as LSA moves into Google Ads.
A common snag is paperwork that doesn't match: a license under a slightly different business name than the profile, or an insurance certificate in the wrong format. We line those up before anything is submitted.
Screening checklist (US)Google Verified
Google Business ProfileEvery advertiserPublic and verified. Google links it to your LSA account.
Business registrationSelect categoriesA business check on the company itself.
LicensesBy trade and stateState-level business license, plus an owner license where your trade requires one.
InsuranceBy categoryGeneral liability coverage. Some categories also need professional liability.
Background checksBy categoryBusiness and owner checks, plus service-professional checks in urgent trades such as plumbing, HVAC, locksmith and garage door.
Identity verificationSelect categoriesOwner and field-worker identity checks.
There are two separate bills. Ad spend goes to Google, on your payment method, at a budget you approve. Our management fee is scoped after the discovery call, or bundled into your monthly local SEO engagement if you already work with us. There's no minimum contract.
Our website and SEO rates are on the pricing page. The ads fee isn't listed there; it's set once we've seen your accounts, job types and service area.
Paid to Google
Ad spend
Billed by Google to your own payment method
Weekly budget on classic LSA, daily once your account is in Google Ads
Set at a level you approve, and you can pause it in your account
Paid to Verlua
Management fee
Scoped after the discovery call
Or bundled into your monthly SEO engagement
Month to month, no minimum contract
Reporting
Why do we report cost per booked job, not cost per lead?
A cheap lead that never books costs more than an expensive one that does. So the number we manage to is cost per booked job: what you spent, minus credits, divided by the jobs that actually went on your calendar.
Benchmarks help size a first budget, and our cost per lead benchmarks by trade cover LSA, Search and the lead marketplaces. After the first month, your own booked-job numbers matter more than any average.
The number we manage to
Cost per booked job= (ad spend − credits) ÷ booked jobs
Worked example, sample numbers
($1,000 spend−$50 credits)÷8 booked jobs=$119 per booked job
In every monthly report
Cost per booked job, by channel and job type
Book rate: booked jobs divided by leads
Credit rate on charged LSA leads
Missed calls and reply times
Search terms we blocked, and why
Next month's budget moves
Questions contractors ask
Google Ads and LSA management FAQ
Does Google Ads work for contractors?
It can, when three things are true: people search for your job types in your area, the page the ad sends them to turns clicks into calls, and someone answers fast. A common failure point is tracking. If you only count clicks or leads, you can't tell which campaigns book jobs. We track to booked jobs, so a campaign that doesn't pay for itself gets cut.
How much do Local Services Ads cost?
You pay per valid lead, and Google sets the price by auction, so there's no official price list. Two 2026 datasets give a planning range. SearchLight Digital's February 2026 benchmark of 888 home-service contractors averaged $53 per lead (electrical $39, HVAC $51, plumbing $57). 99 Calls, looking at April to June 2026, put painting at $33, plumbing at $66 and roofing at $107 per lead. Our management fee is separate from that spend.
No. LSA leads come in as calls, messages and booking requests inside Google, so the ads run without a website. You do need a public, verified Google Business Profile. Search ads are different: they send people to a page on your site, and that page decides your cost per lead. Prospects often check your website before they call, so it still matters.
Yes. Local Services Ads and Search ads show in different places on the results page and bill differently: per lead versus per click. Running both covers more of the page for the same search, and once Google moves LSA into Google Ads, both run from one account. We tag leads by channel and compare cost per booked job, then shift budget toward whichever channel books more jobs for less.
What does LSA management include?
Our LSA management covers setup and the weekly work: your profile and Google Verified paperwork, job types and service area, budget and lead goals (weekly budget and bidding mode on classic LSA, daily budget and target cost per lead in Google Ads), lead review with feedback on bad leads, and a steady review-request routine. Each month you get cost per booked job, credit rate and missed calls. You keep paying Google directly for the leads.
What happens with bad leads from Local Services Ads?
Google charges for valid leads, reassesses charged leads over time and issues credits automatically when it decides a lead was low quality. You can also flag a bad lead in that lead's feedback survey. We review calls and messages every week, send feedback on spam, wrong-area and wrong-service leads, and track the credit rate in your report. Automatic credits are only available in the US and Canada.
No minimum contract. Management is billed month to month, and Google bills ad spend to your own payment method, so you can pause or change the budget whenever you want. Plan on reviewing the first full month of booked-job numbers before deciding whether to scale up or stop.
Book a 30-minute ads review
We'll look at your Business Profile and any LSA or Google Ads accounts you already run, then tell you which channel fits your trade and market.
