Local Services Ads Is Moving Into Google Ads: Prepare Your Records and Settings
Prepare for an advertising platform change by recording what you have today and deciding who will check it afterward. Keep the campaign owner, reporting owner, and person answering inquiries involved. A new dashboard should not leave the business uncertain about its spending or incoming work.
Confirm your account's transition
Google is migrating Local Services Ads in phases into specialized Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals. These retain Search and Maps placements rather than standard Performance Max's broader distribution. Follow your account's notice; the rollout is not simultaneous for every advertiser.
Google describes automatic migration, advance notifications, and these changes in its migration guide:
- Historical campaign performance reports do not transfer, although customer lead history does. The old dashboard becomes inaccessible after migration. Save reports beforehand; Google recommends screenshots if downloads are unavailable.
- Weekly budgets convert to daily averages by dividing by seven. The documented monthly limit is the daily average multiplied by 30.4.
- Manual bidding and vertical-level targets are deprecated; campaign-level targets apply. This does not establish that separate campaigns merge.
- The new Leads page is under Goals, Conversions. Advertising targeting can be managed separately from core Business Profile details.
Do not create duplicate accounts or campaigns merely because the dashboard is changing. Check the migration instructions and your existing account access first.
Save a useful baseline
Keep a dated record of campaign identifiers, service categories, targeted areas, schedules, budgets, bidding settings, spend, and lead outcomes. Preserve whatever reliable history is available instead of treating a fixed number of months as a universal requirement.
Label the reporting dates and metric definitions. Distinguish charged inquiries, qualified leads, appointments, completed jobs, and collected revenue. Store exports securely, with access limited to the people who need them; lead records can include customer contact information.
Record known gaps, such as missing qualification data or inconsistent call tracking. An incomplete baseline can still be useful when its limitations are clear.
Check the account after the move
Scroll horizontally to view all columns.
| Check | What to record |
|---|---|
| Access and ownership | Who can manage the campaign, review billing, and answer leads? |
| Budget and bidding | What daily budget, billing limit, and bidding target are displayed? |
| Advertising coverage | Do the listed job types, service areas, and schedules match what you intend to advertise? |
| Lead handling | Do the routing number, notifications, and assigned response owner match your operating process? |
| Reporting | Can you reconcile new campaign totals with the lead records and preserve the migration date in your reports? |
Investigate discrepancies before making broad budget or targeting changes. Keep a log of the setting, observed problem, action, and person responsible so the next review has context.
Use current badge and credit rules
Google now documents the Google Verified badge. Eligible existing advertisers who completed verification receive it automatically. Do not promise that the older Google Guaranteed or Google Screened branding remains unchanged. See the badge guidance.
For unwanted inquiries, use the current lead feedback and automated-credit process. Google no longer supports credits for job types or geographic areas you do not service; further category and regional exclusions apply. Feedback does not guarantee a refund. Check the credit policy before giving customers or staff dispute instructions.
Evaluate results with the reporting limits in mind
Recent acquisition costs can look inflated while conversions are still arriving. Google's conversion lag documentation explains this delay. Keep that separate from a broken notification, incorrect setting, or missing account access, which should be investigated when discovered.
Compare equivalent outcomes and note changes in demand, availability, prices, and measurement. Avoid automatically adjusting a bid because one metric crossed an arbitrary percentage. Decide whether the evidence indicates a configuration problem, a reporting difference, an operational issue, or a performance change that needs more observation.
The practical goal is continuity: a documented budget, accurate advertising coverage, reliable lead handling, and records that explain what changed. Use that evidence to make the next decision.