- Local Services Ads charge per lead, and regular search ads charge per click.
- Whether Local Services Ads exist for you depends on your trade and your city.
- Reviews, response speed and hours affect where Local Services Ads place you.
- Search ads give more control but need good pages, tracking and regular upkeep.
- If you run both, compare cost per booked job, not cost per lead.
Two different products on the same page
Search "ac repair near me" in many cities and the top of the page can show two kinds of ads. Local Services Ads appear as a set of businesses with star ratings, a badge and a way to call or message. Regular search ads look much like normal results, with a Sponsored label. Both are run by Google, but they are separate products with separate setups, rules and billing.
Local Services Ads are offered for many home services and some professional services, and the list of covered trades varies by city. Before you plan around them, check whether Google offers them for your category where you work. If it does not, the decision is made for you, and the rest of this guide is about running search ads well.
How Local Services Ads work
You pay for leads, not clicks. A lead is a call, message or booking request that comes through the ad. You choose the job types you take and the areas you serve rather than picking keywords, and Google decides which searches to match you with.
To run them you go through Google's screening first. Depending on the category, that can include background checks, license checks and proof of insurance. Pass it and your listing carries a Google Guaranteed or Google Screened badge, which tells a stranger that Google has checked you out before they ever pick up the phone.
Where you place among other Local Services advertisers depends on things like how close you are to the customer, your reviews and rating, how quickly you respond to leads, your business hours and your budget. A company that misses calls and lets messages sit tends to slide down. Because you pay per lead, you are not paying for people who looked and left, but you are still paying for leads that do not book, so how your team handles the call decides how well it pays.
Google also has a process for crediting leads that are not valid, such as spam or job types you do not offer. The details have changed over time, so check the current rules inside your account.
How regular search ads work
Regular search ads charge per click. You choose the keywords, write the ads, pick the page each ad goes to, and control the schedule, the location settings and the bids. That control is the point. You can run separate campaigns for water heaters and for drain cleaning, cut a search that brings job seekers, and send each click to a page built for exactly what was searched.
The trade-off is that you own the problems too. A badly built search campaign can spend real money on the wrong searches. It needs a page worth landing on, conversion tracking that counts real calls and forms, and someone reading the search terms report regularly.
When Local Services Ads tend to fit better
Local Services Ads tend to suit a business that ticks most of these boxes. None of them is a rule, but the more you tick, the more likely they are to be the simpler place to start.
- Google offers Local Services Ads for your trade in your area, and you can pass the screening
- You already have a healthy number of good reviews on your Google Business Profile
- Someone answers the phone quickly and messages get a fast reply
- Your website is thin or out of date, since these leads come through Google rather than your site
- You would rather pay for leads you can see than for clicks you have to judge
When regular search ads tend to fit better
Search ads tend to make more sense when you need control over what comes in, or when Local Services Ads are not an option at all.
- Local Services Ads are not offered for your category in your area
- You want to push specific high-value work, like full roof replacements or whole-home repipes, rather than every lead type
- You want to reach towns where you are not the closest company, since distance to the customer is one of the things Local Services placement weighs
- You have pages on your site for each service, so you can send each search to the right one
- You want to choose, and refuse, the exact searches you pay for
Running both, and telling them apart
Plenty of businesses run both. Local Services Ads catch the people who want a vetted company and a quick way to call. Search ads cover the services and areas where you want more control, and catch the people who scroll past the top of the page to read further.
If you run both, track them separately. Local Services leads show in their own dashboard, with call recordings if you turn them on. Search ad leads should come through call tracking and form tracking on your site. Put both in one report so you can compare what a booked job costs from each, rather than what a lead costs.
Keep your Google Business Profile in good shape either way. Reviews, accurate hours and a correct service area help your Maps listing, and your reviews carry real weight in how Local Services Ads place you.
Where to start
Start by checking whether Local Services Ads are offered for your trade in your area, and whether you can pass the screening. If the answer is yes, and your reviews and phone handling are strong, they are often the simplest first step. If not, or if you want tighter control over which jobs come in, start with a well-built search campaign on your best service in your closest area.
Whichever you start with, judge it on booked work. A lead that never answers back costs the same as one that turns into a big job, and only your own records can tell them apart.
Northward's Google Ads Management is $499 a month, the ad budget is paid straight to Google, and the weekly report shows where each lead came from. We are happy to talk through which option fits your trade and town on a free consultation.
