Google Local Services Ads Are Moving to Performance Max: What Contractors Should Do Now

What’s happening

Google is moving Local Services Ads out of its standalone dashboard and into Google Ads, where LSA becomes a Performance Max campaign type with a pay-per-lead goal. Industry coverage says the rollout started in August 2026 with select U.S. advertisers and will expand through 2027. Invoca has a detailed rundown.

Google’s official migration notice in your account is the final word on your timing. Watch for it, and don’t make changes based on rumors.

What stays the same

• You still pay per lead, not per click.
• Ads still show on Search and Maps. Reports say these campaigns will not expand to YouTube, Gmail, or Display the way standard Performance Max does.
• No keywords. Google still matches you to searches based on your categories, job types, and service area.
• Your Google Verified badge carries over.

What changes

• Where you manage it. The standalone LSA dashboard goes away and campaigns are run inside Google Ads.
• Bidding. Manual max-per-lead bids are reported to be replaced by a single campaign-level target cost per lead (Target CPA). You lose fine-grained bid control, so the data you feed Google matters more.
• Budgets. Reports say your historical weekly budget will be converted to a daily average.
• Missed calls. Industry reports say that from October 1, 2026, a missed call during your stated business hours can be charged as a lead if the caller stays on the line for about 20 seconds or more. If that applies to your account, every unanswered call costs you money as well as the job.
• Reporting history. Sources disagree on how much LSA history carries into Google Ads. Export your reports before you migrate.

A checklist for contractors

1. Export your LSA history now: leads, charges, credits, and call recordings you rely on.
2. Answer every call. If missed calls can be billed, an answering gap becomes a direct cost. LSA Command’s AI call answering rings your team first and picks up at 15 seconds.
3. Answer every message, and confirm it was delivered. See how message lead verification catches replies that never reach the customer.
4. Rate every lead. With automated bidding, lead feedback is one of the clearest ways to tell Google what a good lead looks like. LSA Command rates every lead back to Google.
5. Track booked jobs, not just leads. A target cost per lead says nothing about whether the leads became paid work. Measure cost per booked job.
6. Tighten your service area before the move, so automated bidding starts from a clean footprint. See service area targeting.

Frequently asked questions