Google Local Services Ads for contractors: cost, Google Guaranteed, who qualifies

How Local Services Ads work, and what you pay for

Your ad shows when people search for a service you offer in an area you've chosen. They can call you, send a message or request a booking right from the ad. Google calls this "pay for results, not clicks".

Here's what Google counts as a lead you pay for:

• You answer a call and speak with the customer.
• The customer leaves a voicemail.
• You miss a call with no voicemail, then call the customer back.
• The customer sends a text message or email.
• The customer sends a booking request (U.S. and Canada).

Google doesn't publish a price list. Lead prices vary with your location, the job type, the kind of lead and your bidding mode. Message leads usually cost less than phone leads.

Leads you pay for even when they go nowhere

Plenty of charged leads never turn into work, and Google gives money back for fewer of them than many owners expect.

Google screens leads when the customer first reaches out and doesn't charge for the ones it judges invalid or low quality. It keeps checking charged leads later and can credit them automatically, usually within 30 days. The help page describes no form for disputing a lead yourself. You can send feedback through the lead feedback survey, and change your service areas and job types if you keep getting the wrong calls.

Google lists these as examples of leads that won't be credited:

• The call came in outside your business hours.
• The customer wanted advice to do the project themselves.
• The customer canceled a booking.
• The customer was researching projects or prices.
• The customer didn't answer when you called or messaged back.

Google also no longer gives credits for leads marked "job type not serviced" or "geo not serviced". If someone calls about a job you don't do, or from outside your area, you may still pay for it. That's why the math below counts every charged lead, not only the good ones.

Google Guaranteed is now Google Verified

If you remember the Google Guaranteed badge, that program has changed. Google replaced its separate advertiser badges with a single badge for all advertisers, called Google Verified. Businesses that had already passed verification got the new badge automatically. New advertisers get it after they finish Google's screening.

The money back guarantee is gone too. Google ended the Money Back Guarantee tied to the Google Guarantee badge. Customers could only ask for reimbursement on services booked before December 7, 2025, within 30 days of the job being done. So the badge now tells a homeowner you passed Google's checks. It no longer means Google will refund them if the job goes wrong.

Who qualifies, and which categories are eligible

Local Services Ads are open only to certain service categories. Google keeps the full list on its Getting started page, and it covers the usual home service trades: plumbers, electricians, HVAC, house cleaning, pest control, painters, locksmiths and more. Check your exact category there before you plan anything. Then expect these requirements in the U.S.:

• A verified Google Business Profile. Google requires a public, verified profile. If yours isn't finished, start with our Google Business Profile checklist.
• Licenses. Business and owner licenses at the state level, where your trade requires them.
• Insurance. General liability insurance, where local law requires it. The required amount depends on your category and location.
• Background checks. For many U.S. categories, Google checks the business owner and the field workers who do jobs in homes or on site. Office staff aren't checked. Businesses aren't charged for the background check.
• Reviews. Some categories need a minimum number of reviews. Google recommends 5 or more, and some business types need 5 to show at all. Our guide to getting more Google reviews covers how to ask without breaking Google's rules.

Plan on waiting. Google says verification takes 3 to 4 weeks on average after you submit your documents. Some businesses get a faster start and then have 14 days to finish the remaining checks to keep the ad running. Google can also ask for a follow-up review later, and failing it can cost you the badge or pause your ads.

Local Services Ads cost: what decides your rank and price per lead

Google ranks ads in an auction that looks at your bid and at how likely your ad is to produce a lead. Most of the second part is in your hands:

• Answer the phone. Google says missed calls can hurt your responsiveness, and if you regularly fail to answer calls or reply to messages, your ad ranking may drop.
• Build the profile. Your rating, number of reviews, response time, photos and completed verification checks all count. Google says higher quality profiles may rank higher and pay less per lead.
• The rest you don't control: where the customer is, what they searched and when.

On bidding, you can let Google maximize leads for your budget, set a target cost per lead, or set a maximum you'll pay per lead. Google recommends a budget of at least 10 leads a week and says it takes about 2 weeks for results to settle. Google's own sign-up page offers a budget calculator if you want a local estimate before you commit.

The break-even math, before you spend a dollar

You need one number: the most you can pay for a lead and still make money. Use profit per job, not the invoice total. A $600 invoice that costs you $400 in parts and labor only leaves $200 to pay for the lead.

Most you can pay per lead = profit per job × booking rate.

Your booking rate is jobs booked divided by every charged lead, including price shoppers and wrong-area calls. If you don't track this yet, count how many of your current phone inquiries turn into jobs for a month. The rows below are made-up examples to show the math, not averages for any trade.

Compare your number with what you actually pay per lead after the first few weeks. If your cost per lead sits above it, the ads lose money no matter how many leads come in. Rows two and three are the same job at the same price. In the example, calling back hours later means only 1 caller in 10 still wants you, and what you can afford per lead drops from $150 to $50.

When Local Services Ads probably aren't worth it

• Nobody can answer during the day. If calls go to voicemail while you're on a roof, you still pay for each voicemail and your ranking can slip. By the time you call back, the customer may have hired someone else.
• You're already booked out. Paying for leads you have to turn away makes no sense. Pause the budget until you have open slots.
• Your jobs are small. When profit per job is low, the most you can afford per lead gets small fast, as the last row of the table shows.
• Your free listing isn't done. Reviews and a complete profile affect both where the ad shows and what you pay. Fix those first. They cost nothing.
• Your trade isn't on Google's list, or you can't pass the checks. Put the money into your profile and website instead.

What's changing in 2026: the move into Google Ads

Google is moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads as a special type of Performance Max campaign with pay-per-lead goals. The first phase started in August 2026 for select U.S. home and storefront service advertisers, including plumbing, HVAC, electrical, appliance repair, house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control and moving. Service-area businesses without a storefront are planned for late 2026, and the rest follow in 2027.

Google says you still pay only for valid leads such as calls and messages. The ads still show on Google Search and Maps, and there are still no keywords to manage. Some things do change:

• Manual bidding is no longer supported after the move.
• Weekly budgets become daily averages.
• The separate Local Services Ads dashboard goes away, and old performance reports don't carry over. Download them before your account moves.
• Phone leads are charged only when they meet minimum call length requirements, and booking leads are set to launch in October 2026.

Next step: before you sign up, write down your profit per job and count how many of last month's phone inquiries became jobs. Multiply the two. If Google's estimate for your area comes in under that number, and you have someone who will answer every call, a short test is reasonable.