Local Services Ads Are Moving Into Google Ads: What Home Service Businesses Need to Do Now

By Dean Sander

If you run Local Services Ads, your account is moving. Google is shifting Local Services Ads into the main Google Ads platform as Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals. The Local Services Ads Performance Max migration started with select home service advertisers in August 2026, and more businesses move in late 2026 and 2027. Your ads will look the same to customers. What changes is where you manage them, how your budget works, and which reports you keep.

Here’s what’s changing, when your business is likely to move, and a checklist for before and after. For the full picture of how these ads work and rank, see our guide to Google Local Services Ads. Every fact below comes from Google’s own help page on the Local Services Ads transition to Performance Max.

What’s not changing

Google is clear that the parts customers see stay the same:

• Pay per lead. You still pay for valid leads like calls and messages, not clicks.
• Same placements. Ads still show only on Google Search and Google Maps, in the same positions as before.
• No keywords. Targeting is still based on your service categories and areas.
• Your badge. If you’ve completed verification, your status and Google Verified badge transfer automatically.
• Your lead history. Past leads, message threads, and older call recordings move to the new Leads page in Google Ads.

What’s changing

Two of these deserve extra attention.

Bidding. If you ran different cost-per-lead targets for different services, say plumbing and HVAC under one account, Google will calculate a single campaign-level Target CPA and apply it to everything. To keep separate targets, you’ll need separate campaigns per trade. Google’s page on Target CPA bidding explains how the target works.

Business Profile sync. Your ads now pull core details from your Google Business Profile. Minor changes to hours or your phone number sync within 24 hours. Big changes to your business name, storefront address, or primary category trigger a review that Google says typically takes 24 to 48 hours, and your campaign may pause while it happens. Don’t rename your profile or change your primary category in the middle of a busy week.

When your business moves

You’ll know it’s coming. The account administrator listed on your profile gets an email 14 days before your migration date, a reminder 7 days later, and a confirmation after the move. Banners also appear in your current dashboard. If the person listed as administrator left the company or never checks that inbox, fix that now.

Before you migrate: checklist

Do these as soon as you can, even if your migration email hasn’t arrived:

1. Save your reports. Google says your Local Services Ads performance reports won’t transfer. Download them when the download page is available, or take screenshots now. You’ll want at least 12 months of leads, spend, and cost per lead by job type for comparison.
2. Check your Google Business Profile. Confirm your business name, address (if shown), hours, and primary category are correct, and that your name follows Google’s guidelines for representing your business. Fix anything before migration, not during it.
3. Confirm who gets the emails. Make sure the account administrator is someone who will read and act on them.
4. Review your budget. Your weekly budget becomes a daily average. Know your current weekly number so you can check it after the move.
5. Decide on campaign structure. If different trades or services need different cost-per-lead targets, plan separate campaigns for each.
6. Write down your current settings. Service areas, job types, ad schedule, and bidding. Google moves these automatically, but you’ll want a record to check against.
7. Pick replacement callouts. If you used BBB callouts, choose at least 6 structured callouts (for example, hours, specialties, or payment methods).

After you migrate: checklist

Google says to allow up to two weeks for the migration to finish and for performance to settle. Use that time to check everything:

1. Find the Leads page. In Google Ads, go to Goals, then Conversions, then Leads. This replaces the old lead inbox, including charged status, lead type, the feedback form, and lead downloads.
2. Check your daily budget. Compare it with your old weekly budget ÷ 7. Google notes daily spend can run higher on busy days, but monthly spend won’t exceed the cap. Google’s page on average daily budgets explains how that works.
3. Review your Target CPA. If Google combined several category targets into one, decide whether that number works or whether you need separate campaigns.
4. Check targeting. Service areas, ad schedule, and business categories now operate independently of your Business Profile, so confirm they match the work you actually want.
5. Confirm the lead routing number. You can now edit the phone number your call and message leads go to in real time. Make sure it rings someone who answers.
6. Add photos and callouts. You can upload up to 100 business photos and manage callouts in the Assets section.
7. Keep rating leads. Use the lead feedback form every week. Google’s automated lead credits handle credits for low-quality leads, and your feedback helps it learn what you want.

Watch these numbers for the first 30 days

In Google Ads, your campaign shows “Conversions” (charged leads), “Cost,” and “Cost / conv.” (average cost per lead). Compare them with the reports you saved. But don’t stop at cost per lead. Track how many of those leads became booked jobs, because that’s the number that tells you if the move changed anything that matters. If you also run Search ads, our guide to call tracking and offline conversions shows how to tie leads to booked jobs across both.

If your budget needs a rethink after the move, our post on how much a small business should spend on Google Ads walks through setting budgets from job value and booking rate. The bigger Google Ads guide for small businesses covers how pay-per-lead campaigns fit with Search campaigns in one account.

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