NightshiftDirect

Glossary

Local Services Ads

Local Services Ads are Google ads for certain local trades and professions that charge the advertiser for leads instead of clicks. Advertisers are screened by Google, and those who pass show a Google Verified badge.

Also called LSA.

By NightshiftDirect Research. Published . Updated .

How they charge

With Local Services Ads you pay only for leads (Google Local Services Help), meaning a potential customer who gets in touch through the ad. Someone who reads the ad and moves on costs you nothing.

A lead is still only a start. Some people who get in touch want a job you do not do, or live outside the area you cover, so the number that matters to you is how many leads become work at a price you are glad to take. Track that from the first week.

Which businesses qualify

Only some categories can run them. In the United States the list takes in HVAC, plumbers, roofers, electricians, chiropractors, dentists and lawyers among many others, and it has no medical spa category (Google Local Services Help). Health care categories cannot take booking leads through the ad (same page).

In some categories Google also offers what it calls pre-badge ads. To run them you need a license, or a business registration if Google does not ask for your license in your category (Google Local Services Help).

The badge

Google now shows one badge for every advertiser, the Google Verified badge, which follows its screening. The older Google Guarantee badge came with a Money Back Guarantee, and Google has discontinued it (Google Local Services Help). A pitch that still offers your customers their money back through Google is working from old information.

How they differ from other results

Ordinary search ads are usually bought per click: you set the most you will pay, and the amount charged is often less (Google Ads Help). Local Services Ads are billed per lead instead. Both are separate from the local results under the map, which come from Business Profiles.

You can run Local Services Ads and look after your profile at the same time. The ads stop when the budget does. The profile, its reviews and your website stay in place whether you advertise or not.

Where we stand

We do not manage Local Services Ads yet. Paid search, these ads included, has a waitlist; you can join it, and joining commits you to nothing. Whatever you decide about ads, the free scan checks whether a customer who looks you up can tap to call from a phone.

Questions

Do Local Services Ads help my map results?

No. They are ads, and the local results under the map are not for sale: Google says there is no way to pay for a better local ranking (Google Business Profile Help). The profile earns its place through its own information and reviews.

Do we need a license to run them?

Yes for pre-badge ads, in the categories that offer them. Where Google does not ask for a license in your category, a business registration takes its place (Google Local Services Help). Look up what your own category asks for before you plan a budget around these ads. The Google Verified badge is a separate step that follows Google's screening.

Where this fits in our work

We handle this as part of PPC and Local Services Ads: Google Ads and Local Services Ads management with hard budget caps. Not open yet: join the waitlist.

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