Google Local Services Ads are adverts that sit at the very top of Google, above the normal adverts, for local services such as plumbers and electricians. The big difference from normal Google Ads is how you pay: you pay for a lead, meaning a call or a message from a customer, not for a click. For a busy trade that can be simpler. It also gives you much less control, and the way they work is changing.

Here’s how they work, so you can decide if they’re right for you.

How Local Services Ads work

  • They show at the top of Google for searches like “electrician near me”, with your name, rating, reviews and a call button.
  • You pay per lead, not per click. Google says you only pay for valid leads, such as phone calls and messages, rather than for clicks on the advert.
  • They’re built on your Google Business Profile. A verified Business Profile is required, and your name, address and hours come from it. If you haven’t got one, start there: how to get your business on Google Maps.
  • They’re only for certain types of business. Google decides which categories can use them, mostly home services, and shows whether yours qualifies when you sign up.
  • Reviews matter a lot. Your rating and number of reviews show right on the advert, so they affect who rings you.

What’s changing

Google is moving Local Services Ads into the main Google Ads platform, as part of Performance Max campaigns. According to Google’s own help pages, it’s starting with some US advertisers in August 2026, and non-US accounts, which includes the UK, follow in 2027. Pay-per-lead stays; what changes is where you manage it and how bidding works.

Google has also been moving to a single “Google Verified” badge for eligible businesses, in place of the older Google Guaranteed and Google Screened badges. If you already run Local Services Ads, expect the way you set budgets and see results to change when your account moves across.

Local Services Ads or normal Google Ads?

Local Services Ads can suit you if:

  • you want to pay for enquiries rather than clicks,
  • your category is eligible and you have a good number of recent reviews,
  • you’d rather not manage keywords and adverts yourself.

Normal Google Ads usually give you more control:

  • You choose the jobs. You can aim adverts at the work you want more of, such as rewires rather than small repairs, and keep them off the jobs you don’t want. Local Services Ads work at the level of your category and services, with less say over individual searches.
  • You choose the page people land on. With normal adverts, customers go to your website and an enquiry form that can screen out the jobs you don’t want. With Local Services Ads, most contact happens straight from Google.
  • You see exactly what you paid for. Every search, click and enquiry can be tracked back to the advert that brought it.

Many trades use both: Local Services Ads for the category they’re known for, and normal Google Ads and Facebook adverts aimed at the jobs they want more of.

What to do now

  1. Get your Google Business Profile complete, because Local Services Ads depend on it. The same work helps you on Google Maps anyway.
  2. Build your reviews. They show on the advert and they’re the first thing people compare. See how to get more Google reviews.
  3. Track where every job comes from, whichever adverts you run, so you can put your money where the numbers say.

How RareBear can help

We run Google and Facebook adverts for tradespeople, aimed at the jobs you want, with every enquiry checked and texted straight to your phone, and we set up and look after your Google Business Profile. If you’re not sure where you stand, start with a free audit of your Google listing, website and how AI tools see you. See marketing for trades for everything we do.