Google Local Service Ads for contractors, and the system that answers every lead
Most owners still call them Google Guaranteed ads. You pay for every lead, and since October 1, 2026 Google also bills the calls you miss. We run your Local Service Ads and build the response system around them, so the leads you pay for turn into booked jobs.
An Albanian agency working with US businesses, in English or in Albanian. The numbers on this page come from Google's own documentation and from a live LSA account we work on every week.
Why Local Service Ads cost more every month
Local Service Ads still put you above every other result on Google, and you still pay per lead instead of per click. But the rules changed in the last year, and almost every change moved cost onto the advertiser. Lead prices keep rising, bad leads are harder to get credited, and a phone that rings out during business hours is now a charge on your account.
- Missed calls during business hours are now billed, and they also push your ranking down
- Leads from outside your area or for jobs you do not do are no longer credited back
- Roofing leads went from about $74 to about $107 in a year, in one agency's managed accounts
What changed in Local Service Ads (updated October 2026)
If your notes, your agency, or the guide you read last year describe the old program, this is what is different now.
July 2024
Manual lead disputes ended
Google now reviews every lead with its own models and credits the ones it judges low quality, usually within 30 days. Leads for job types you do not do and areas you do not serve are no longer credited at all.
October 20, 2025
Google Guaranteed became Google Verified
The Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and License Verified badges were replaced by one Google Verified badge. The money-back guarantee for customers ended with it. The verification checks themselves still apply.
August 2026 onward
LSA is moving into Google Ads
Accounts are migrated automatically into Google Ads as Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals. Plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing and a few other trades went first. Service-area businesses follow in late 2026, everyone else in 2027. You still pay per lead and still show only on Search and Maps.
At migration
Manual bidding and old reports are gone
Manual bidding is no longer supported, one target cost per lead now covers the whole campaign, and weekly budgets become daily ones. Your old LSA performance reports do not transfer, so export them before your migration date.
October 1, 2026
Missed calls are billed
A missed call during your listed business hours is charged as a lead if the caller stays on the line for more than about 20 seconds. Follow-up calls with the same customer are charged once within 15 days of the first contact.
What LSA management includes
Setup & verification
Categories, job types, service areas, background checks, license and insurance documents. Verification takes 3 to 4 weeks on average, and we keep it on track.
Weekly lead steering
Budget and job types shifted every week toward the work your schedule needs, with separate campaigns per service so each one can be steered on its own.
Lead review & feedback
Every lead rated from what actually happened to it, so Google sends more of the jobs you want and fewer of the ones you do not.
Reviews & profile
Rating, review count, photos and verification: the profile signals Google says lift your ranking and can lower what you pay per lead.
The response system around your ads
Google ranks you partly on how fast you respond, and it now bills the calls you miss. So the cheapest lead is the one somebody answers. This is the part most LSA management leaves to you, and it is where we spend most of our time.
- 01
Business hours that match real coverage
Your listed hours decide when a missed call is billed, and valid leads that arrive outside them are never credited. We set your hours to when someone can actually pick up, not to when the office is open.
- 02
Calls routed to whoever is working
Leads go to the phone of the person on shift, not a desk line in an empty office or a phone in a truck on a job site. In Google Ads the routing number can now be changed in real time.
- 03
Every missed call gets a callback
A missed call inside business hours is billed anyway. A fast callback is how that charge becomes a job instead of a loss, and follow-up calls within 15 days are charged once, not per call.
- 04
Messages answered in minutes
Message leads are billed as soon as they arrive, and customers often message more than one provider at a time. The first useful reply usually wins the job.
- 05
Every lead logged with its outcome
Calls, messages and bookings go into one lead log with what happened: booked, quoted, lost or spam. That gives you cost per booked job instead of cost per lead, and it is what we use to rate leads back to Google.
From a live account
A US service business we work with on Local Service Ads every week. Not a benchmark, one real account:
$150
average cost per lead
2
services in one account, steered week by week
Rare
missed calls, with people answering across several time zones
At around $150 a lead, one unanswered ring during business hours now costs as much as a real inquiry. The lead mix moves every week toward whichever service the schedule needs filled. That is what managing LSA looks like in practice: not settings changed once, but steering every week and making sure someone answers.
Can your trade run Local Service Ads?
Local Service Ads only exist for specific categories. For construction, home improvement and home services in the US, these are on Google's list:
Has an LSA category
- General contractors
- Kitchen and bathroom remodeling
- Roofers
- Siding, foundations and fencing
- Flooring, painters and carpenters
- Countertops and handyman services
- Electricians, plumbers and HVAC
- Pool and solar contractors
- Window repair and water damage
No LSA category of its own
- Concrete
- Decks and patios
- Paving and asphalt
- Gutters
- Masonry
- Drywall
- Excavation and demolition
Not on the list? Your customers still search, so we reach them with Search and Maps ads pointing to a landing page built for the job. General contractors also need a business and an owner background check, general and professional liability insurance, and a state license where the state requires one.
How we start
Frequently asked questions
Not under that name. On October 20, 2025 Google replaced the Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and License Verified badges with one Google Verified badge, and the money-back guarantee ended. The ads themselves are the same program, Local Service Ads, and most owners and customers still call them Google Guaranteed.
You pay per lead, not per click, and the price depends on your trade and city. Published agency data puts roofing at about $107 a lead in 2026, up from about $74 a year earlier, and plumbing at roughly $57 to $66. The live account on this page averages about $150. No public data covers general contracting or remodeling yet, so treat any number you see for those trades as a guess.
Yes, since October 1, 2026, if the call comes in during your listed business hours and the caller stays on the line for more than about 20 seconds. If your phone system asks callers to press a key first, the 20 seconds start after they press it. Missed calls also count against your responsiveness, which Google uses to rank you.
Not the way you used to. Manual disputes ended in July 2024. Google now credits leads automatically when its models judge them low quality, usually within 30 days. It no longer credits leads for jobs you do not do or areas you do not serve, and it never credits price shoppers or customers who do not answer your callback. Your categories, job types and service areas are now the real protection.
Download your LSA reports before your migration date, because they do not transfer. After the move, manual bidding is gone and one target cost per lead applies to the whole campaign, so if you want to steer services separately, split them into separate campaigns. BBB callouts are removed, so add at least six other callouts. Then check your hours and the number your calls route to.
Local Service Ads charge per lead, show only on Google Search and Maps, and use no keywords: Google matches you by category, job type and area. Regular Google Ads charge per click, use keywords, send people to your own landing page, and can learn from which leads became paying jobs. For most contractors the answer is both: LSA at the top of the page, and Search and Maps ads for the jobs LSA does not cover.
Google says 3 to 4 weeks on average after you submit your documents. A general contractor needs a business and an owner background check, general and professional liability insurance, and a business and owner license at state level where the state requires one. You also need a verified Google Business Profile.
They are when leads get answered. You only pay for contacts, and the ad sits above regular ads and the map. But with lead prices rising and missed calls now billed, an account that misses calls or leaves messages waiting pays for jobs it never gets. The same budget works very differently depending on who picks up the phone.
We are based in Tirana, Albania, and work with US businesses remotely, in English or in Albanian, whichever you prefer. Tirana is six hours ahead of New York, so your morning overlaps with our afternoon. Everything runs inside your own Google Ads account, which you own.
Related services
Start with a free LSA review
We will check your hours, call routing, job types and service areas, and show you what missed calls and wrong-area leads are costing you since October 1.