Local Services Ads is moving into Performance Max
Google is moving Local Services Ads (LSA) into a new Performance Max campaign type with pay-per-lead goals. For home service businesses, the way you pay stays the same: you're charged for real customer contacts, not clicks. What changes is where you manage it, how budgets and bidding work, and what happens to your reporting history.
The businesses that prepare before their account migrates will protect their lead flow and their data. This guide explains what's changing, what's staying, and the steps to take now.
What are Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals?
It's a Performance Max campaign built on the same models as Local Services Ads. Your ads appear in Google Search and Google Maps when local customers search for your services, and you pay only when a customer contacts your business directly through the ad.
What counts as a lead
- Phone calls (required): answered calls, voicemails, and return calls to missed calls. You're only charged for valid calls that meet a minimum duration.
- Texts or emails (optional): messages sent directly through your ad.
- Bookings (optional, starting October 2026): appointments scheduled directly through your ad.
How targeting works
There are no keywords to manage. Google builds the campaign from your Google Business Profile, and you refine it with four settings:
- Locations: the cities, counties, or ZIP codes you serve.
- Business categories: between 1 and 10 eligible categories.
- Service types: turn specific services on or off to shape which searches show your ad.
- Ad schedule: the days and hours your ads can run.
Where your ad content comes from
Your business name, address, hours, and review ratings come straight from your Google Business Profile and can't be edited in Google Ads. You don't write headlines, descriptions, or sitelinks. You can add extra images, up to 6 callouts per category (such as "Free estimates"), and your founding year. Google can also scan your website to create assets automatically, which you can turn off.
What stays the same and what changes
The product you pay for stays the same. The system that runs it is new.
| Area | What happens at migration |
|---|---|
| Pay-per-lead pricing | Stays. You still pay only for valid leads. |
| Ad placements in Search and Maps | Stay the same. |
| Keywordless targeting | Stays. Matching is based on your services and service area. |
| Google Verified badge | Carries over with your verification status. |
| Customer lead history | Moves into Lead Manager in Google Ads, including contacts, messages, and older call recordings. |
| LSA dashboard | Access ends when your account migrates. |
| Performance reports | Do not carry over. Spend, lead volume, cost per lead, and past reports are lost unless you export them. |
| Weekly budgets | Convert automatically to daily budgets. |
| Manual bidding and vertical-level target CPA | Discontinued. |
| BBB callouts | Discontinued. |
| Business name, address and hours | Sync one way from Google Business Profile. Edit them in your profile, not in Google Ads. |
One change deserves extra attention. Because core details now sync from your Business Profile, a big edit to your name or address can trigger a verification review and pause your ads. Limit who can edit your profile before you migrate.
When will my account migrate?
Google is moving accounts in waves, and the first wave started in August 2026.
- August 2026: US home services and storefront businesses. This wave is underway.
- Late 2026: Service area businesses.
- 2027: Businesses outside the US and the remaining categories, including categories that need advanced verification (such as locksmiths and garage door services) and professional services.
Google emails the account administrator 14 days before your migration date, so make sure the right person is listed on your account. Large rollouts often slip, so treat these dates as the earliest your account could move and prepare now.
Who is eligible
To run a Performance Max campaign with pay-per-lead goals today, your business needs to meet four requirements:
- Location: your business is based in and operates in the United States.
- Business Profile: you have at least one verified Google Business Profile.
- Category: you're in an eligible home services or storefront category. See Google's list of supported categories.
- Screening: you pass any background checks and verification required for your category and area.
If you're in a category that needs advanced verification, or outside a supported region, you'll keep managing your ads in the current Local Services Ads portal for now.
If you have more than one verified Business Profile, you'll choose which one to advertise when you set up the campaign. That choice links your Google Ads account to the profile.
How to prepare: your migration checklist
The single most important step is exporting your performance history before your account moves.
- Export your LSA performance data. Download spend, lead volume, cost per lead, call data and every report the dashboard offers. Store it outside the dashboard. You'll need it to compare results after the move and to understand your seasonality.
- Confirm your migration wave and contact. Check which wave your business falls into and make sure the right person receives Google's 14-day notice email.
- Clean up your Google Business Profile. Confirm your name, address, hours and phone number are correct, and limit who can edit the profile.
- Check your budget math. Weekly budgets convert to daily, and daily budgets pace spend differently. A $500 weekly budget won't always behave like a $71 daily budget. Know your new number before Google sets it.
- Review your bidding. If you use manual bidding or a vertical-level target CPA, those settings go away. Check the new campaign-level bidding right after the switch.
- Plan your lead settings. Decide whether texts, emails, and bookings should count as leads alongside phone calls.
- Watch the first two weeks closely. Google says performance can take up to two weeks to settle after migration. Monitor spend, lead volume, and lead quality daily.
How Real Time Marketing helps
Real Time Marketing manages the move for you so your phones keep ringing while Google changes the system behind your ads.
- Data backup: we export and store your LSA performance history before your migration date.
- Business Profile review: we check your profile details and access so a sync doesn't pause your ads.
- Budget and bidding setup: we model your new daily budget and confirm your bidding is set correctly at cutover.
- Lead tracking: we set up the right lead types and connect them to your booked jobs, so you see which leads turn into revenue.
- Post-migration monitoring: we watch spend and lead quality closely through the first weeks.
The full picture: Google recommends running pay-per-lead campaigns alongside Search, Performance Max, and Demand Gen. As a Google Ads Partner, we plan all of them together.
Book your free LSA-to-PMax readiness review
We'll confirm your migration wave, back up your data and check your budget before Google makes the switch.
Frequently asked questions
Is Local Services Ads going away?
The standalone LSA dashboard is going away. Pay-per-lead ads for local service businesses continue inside Google Ads as Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals.
Will I still pay per lead instead of per click?
Yes. You're charged only when a customer contacts you through your ad, and only for valid calls that meet a minimum length.
Will I keep my Google Verified badge?
Yes. Your verification status and badge carry over.
Will I lose my data?
Your customer lead history moves to Lead Manager in Google Ads. Your performance reports do not, so export them before your account migrates.
What happens to my weekly budget?
It converts to a daily budget automatically. Check the new amount and watch spending closely in the first few weeks.
Do I need to manage keywords now?
No. These campaigns don't use keywords. Targeting comes from your Business Profile, service areas, categories, service types and ad schedule.
How long until performance settles?
Google says it can take up to two weeks after migration.