I want eligible local customers to find me through Google Local Services Ads
Google Local Services Ads setup completes eligibility, screening, service areas and lead handling for this separate Google program.
Appear in Google Local Services results with eligibility, screening, profile setup, service areas and lead handling completed. Local Services Ads are a separate Google program. Google says the program is open only to certain service categories, that the screening varies by service and country and can include license, insurance and background checks, and that the charge is for leads rather than clicks. This service organizes the parts you control: eligibility, documents, the profile connection, the category, job types, service areas, hours, budget and who answers a lead. Google decides eligibility, screening, the badge, whether an advertisement appears and what a lead costs. No approval, badge, position, lead volume or cost per lead is promised, and Google bills the leads to you directly.
An ad is a different thing on each platform, and on two of them it is not a picture or a video at all. This is what you are actually buying space for.
So a Search campaign needs no footage and no design. A paid social campaign needs both, and the ads get made before the campaign can run.
A daily budget does not mean the same thing on Google as it does on Meta, on Yelp or on Nextdoor. Each line below is that platform's own published rule, linked to the page it came from, and it gets said before you spend rather than after.
| Platform | What it does with your budget |
|---|---|
| Google Ads | Up to twice your daily number on a single day, and never more than 30.4 times it in a month. A $20 a day budget can reach $40 on a Tuesday and will not pass $608 in the month. |
| Microsoft, which is Bing | Microsoft says it "usually keeps overspend to less than 100% above your daily limit", which is up to double. It also sets a monthly cap of your daily budget times the days in the month. |
| Local Services Ads | A weekly budget, and the monthly maximum is that weekly number times 30.4 divided by 7. You are charged per lead, not per click: when somebody calls, messages or asks to book. |
| Facebook and Instagram | Up to a quarter more than your daily budget on a given day. Meta's own example: a $10 budget can spend $12.50. A lifetime budget is a hard ceiling instead. |
| Up to one and a half times your daily budget on a day with good auction opportunities. The day resets at midnight UTC, not your midnight. | |
| Up to a quarter more than the daily figure, averaged out from Sunday to Saturday rather than day by day. | |
| Up to a fifth more. Reddit also publishes its floors: $5 a day, and minimum bids of $3.50 per thousand views or 10 cents a click in the US. | |
| TikTok | $50 a campaign and $20 a day an ad group are TikTok's published minimums. A month-long ad group budget therefore starts at $620. TikTok is not a five dollar a day platform. |
| Snapchat | $5 a day at the ad squad level, $20 a day at campaign level. |
| X | "we will never go over this amount" is X's own wording on the daily budget, and it publishes no minimum spend at all. |
| Nextdoor | Charged up front: your daily budget times 31 days, and again every 31 days. Presets start at $3 a day. |
| Yelp | Capped by the month, not the day. The daily figure is an average, and the ceiling is that average times 30. |
Where a platform publishes no minimum spend, it is left blank rather than filled in with a number from somewhere else.
It is not the same product as Google Ads. Only some trades are eligible, Google screens the business rather than the advert, and you are charged per lead instead of per click.
Eligibility and the documents Google will want are established first, then the profile is built and configured. Approval is Google's decision and is never promised.
Local Services Ads and Google Ads are sold by the same company and behave almost nothing alike. Four differences decide whether this is even possible for a business, and all four sit with Google.
Google says Local Services Ads are available only for certain service categories, and its own category list also limits some categories to particular states. A Google Ads search campaign can be built for almost any legal business. This program starts with a category check, and the answer is sometimes no.
Google says the screening varies by type of service, the country you are in, and whether the business advertises directly with Google or through one of its partner affiliates. On the same page Google describes business entity verification, business owner background checks and service professional background checks. In an ordinary ad account the advertisement is reviewed. Google screens the business, not only the advertisement.
Google says it verifies that advertisers hold applicable state, provincial or country level licenses, that insurance is required where applicable with the type and minimum amount depending on the category and location, and that background checks can apply to the business, the owner and the service professionals. Google publishes the United States screening and verification requirements by category. Documents you do not have yet are yours to obtain, and no part of this service produces a license or a policy.
Google says you only pay for leads related to your business or the services you offer, and that an invalid lead can be disputed and credited back, currently in the United States and Canada only. Google also says lead disputes are not available for health care verticals. Budget and lead charges are billed to you by Google directly, so the money never runs through me.
If a claim about this program is not on one of Google's own pages, it is not on this one.
More on how working together works.
This service is for you when:
| What is happening | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| Your category is not eligible, or the program is not open where you work | Google Ads setup and management |
| No Google Business Profile exists, or it is not verified | Profile setup and optimization |
| Somebody else controls the profile, or it is suspended | Recovery and complex changes |
| Too few reviews, or no organized way of asking for them | Google reviews |
| Leads arrive and get lost between a phone, an inbox and a notepad | CRM and tracking your leads |
| Nobody can say which calls came from where | Tracking and reporting |
If several of these overlap, say so. It can be quoted as one ordered project instead of making you buy several disconnected services.
Two things about Local Services Ads changed recently, and a lot of what is written about it online is now out of date. Both of them change what you are buying.
Google announced Google Verified in August 2025, and it replaced Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and License Verified by Google. It also replaced the money back guarantee, which Google discontinued for services booked after 7 December 2025.
So if somebody tells you this comes with Google refunding your customer up to two thousand dollars, that was true and is not any more. One of Google's own pages still describes the old guarantee and has not been updated. The newer pages are linked above.
Google is migrating Local Services Ads into Performance Max, a Google Ads campaign type. Phase one started in August 2026 for United States home and storefront service advertisers, with other categories and countries to follow.
What changes for you: the weekly budget becomes a daily average, and setting your own maximum cost per lead is no longer supported. What does not change: you still pay per lead rather than per click, and your lead history moves across.
Where your account gets migrated during a project, the change is explained and the setup is adjusted, at no extra charge.
A written scope can only cover the work. These decisions belong to Google and stay outside anything that gets promised here.
On ranking, Google says listings are displayed and ranked based on an auction and names the bid, the likelihood of a lead converting, review rating and count, average response time, image quality and the verification checks completed, along with the overall health of the program. Answering the phone is a ranking input, which is why the lead response sheet is part of the work rather than an extra.
On the badge, Google says the Google Verified badge shows customers that the business is verified by Google, and that it is currently unavailable in dining verticals. No approval, badge, position, lead volume or cost per lead is promised, in writing or otherwise.
The work can be finished while Google is still deciding. That is written into the completion terms below on purpose, so the finish line is a real one.
Setup is one project with an end. Management is a monthly option you can add later, or never.
. Eligibility and readiness checked first, the document plan written, the account prepared and configured, the screening steps guided, the status recorded and the whole thing handed over. It finishes whether Google says yes, says no, or is still deciding.
. One category, one market. Budget and service areas kept current, leads reviewed, eligible invalid leads submitted as disputes and a monthly report. It is bought separately, after setup, and either of us can end it with 30 days written notice.
Lead charges and budget are not in either number. Google bills those to you directly, on your own payment method.
If the finding is that the business is not eligible, you get that in writing with the nearest useful next step. That is a completed piece of work, and it is delivered in writing either way.
A checklist built for this business rather than a generic list: what Google currently requests for the category and the location, who owns each item, what is already in hand, what is expired and what is missing. In the United States, Google publishes those requirements by business category.
Identity documents, license certificates and payment details go to Google through Google's own process, signed in by you. They are not emailed or texted to me.
Google notes that adding an industry can trigger further verification requirements, so category and job type changes are treated as decisions rather than small edits.
Background checks are run by Google and its third party providers. Nobody else can submit them for you, and nobody can hurry them.
Google says a disputed lead that succeeds is credited back, currently in the United States and Canada only, and that disputes are not available for health care verticals. Dispute rules are Google's and they change.
Everything below is delivered for one business, one location and one category group.
Split in two on purpose. The first list is all I need to price this and tell you whether you even want it. The second only matters once you have said yes.
That is the form below. A few minutes, and it saves a call.
No password, identity document or payment card detail is sent by email or text. You stay the owner of the account and the billing relationship.
Account preparation is normally delivered within ten business days after payment and after all required information, decisions, documents and access have arrived. Your proposal carries the actual window.
Screening runs on Google's schedule, not mine. Google says United States screening and verification takes three to four weeks on average after documents are submitted, and that the requirements can change.
Setup is paid in full before it is scheduled. Once the work has been scheduled and started, the payment is not refunded, and what has been completed is yours either way. Monthly management, when you choose it, is paid before each service month.
Late documents move the delivery date, and the work may return to the next available opening.
The account, the billing relationship, the submitted materials and the approved settings are yours. Access is by invitation wherever the platform supports it, and it can be removed the day you want it removed.
The work can be finished while Google is still deciding. It is also finished if Google decides the business is not eligible, because the finding and the next step are what you were buying.
Any setup error of mine is corrected without charge when you report it within 14 days of handover.
One round of follow up after submission is included. Further requests, repeated submissions, appeals after a rejection or a suspension, and extended support contact are quoted as new work.
A new location, a new category, a new owner, a new field worker, an expired document or a materially different service is new scope and may need a new quote.
If documents, decisions or access do not arrive, the project can be closed with the completed work documented. Previously completed work will not be repeated. Reopening it may require a new quote.
Once setup has been scheduled and started, the payment is not refunded. You get the work completed to that point, including the findings and the records. Monthly management ends with 30 days written notice from either side.
Local Services Ads have their own eligibility list, their own screening of the business, their own profile requirement and their own lead-based charging. Standard search campaigns are on the Google Ads setup and management page.
Google controls screening, verification and badge status. Google also says the badge is currently unavailable in dining verticals. What is promised here is the preparation, the records and a clear finish status.
That is the first thing checked, against Google's current category list. Some categories are limited to particular states, and the list changes. If the answer is no, you get the finding and the nearest useful next step.
Google's United States requirements say a public and verified Business Profile is needed to advertise with Local Services Ads. Setting one up, or recovering one somebody else controls, is a separate service.
Google says you only pay for leads related to your business or the services you offer. The budget and the lead charges are billed to you by Google on your own payment method.
Google says an invalid lead can be disputed and a successful dispute is credited back, currently in the United States and Canada only, and that disputes are not available for health care verticals. Raising them month after month is the monthly option, not the one-time setup.
Google says United States screening and verification takes three to four weeks on average after documents are submitted, and that requirements can change. That clock is Google's. Nothing here shortens it, and no date for going live is promised.
The checklist names it and you obtain it. Licenses, policies and registrations are the business's own, and no part of this service produces one.
Anything sensitive goes to Google through Google's own process, signed in by you. Nothing sensitive is sent by email or text.
Yes, they are separate programs and separate accounts. Whether both are worth funding at once depends on the budget, and that conversation happens before either is built.
You keep the findings, the document plan and the records, and the work is complete. An appeal or a second submission is quoted separately, and no outcome is promised.
Yes, by video. This needs nobody in the room. In person covers Palm Beach County, Broward County and the Treasure Coast.
Eligibility gets checked before anything is sold, and if the category does not qualify you get that in writing too.
Tell me the result you want and where I can see the business now. I use that information to identify the most useful service or package and decide whether I can quote it in writing. If one missing detail changes the work or price, I will ask for that detail or suggest a short call.
Derek PackerI will review what you sent and reply within two business days.
You will receive a copy of your inquiry. Look for an email from Derek Packer with the subject Inquiry Received — Here’s Your Copy. If it is not in your inbox, check spam, promotions or other folders. Still missing? Email [email protected].