Local Services Ads Is Moving to Google Ads — What It Means for Your Firm

Google is migrating Local Services Ads into the Google Ads platform. Here’s what’s changing, what’s staying the same, and what you need to do right now.

July 28, 2026
EverSpark
7 mins read

If your law firm runs Local Services Ads (LSA), you’ve likely seen the announcements: Google is consolidating LSA management directly into the Google Ads platform. This is a significant operational change, but the good news is that the fundamentals of how LSA works — and why it’s valuable — aren’t going away.

Here’s everything you need to know, in plain language.

The Short Version

You’ll manage your LSA campaigns inside Google Ads instead of the separate LSA dashboard. You’ll still pay per qualified lead, your ads will still appear at the top of Google Search and Maps, and your Google Screened badge carries over automatically. The main things to act on: download your historical reports before you migrate, and understand how your bidding will change.

What's Actually Changing vs. Staying the Same

Feature

Staying the Same ✓

Changing ↗

Pay-per-lead model

You still only pay for valid leads — calls and messages — not clicks

—

Ad placement

Top of Google Search and Google Maps, same positions as before

—

Keywordless targeting

Targeting still based on service categories and location, no keyword lists required

—

Google Verified badge

Transfers automatically if you’ve already verifiedYou still only pay for valid leads — calls and messages — not clicks

—

Where you manage campaigns

—

Moves from the standalone LSA dashboard to Google Ads

Budget structure

—

Weekly budgets convert to daily averages (monthly spend cap stays the same)

Bidding options

—

Manual cost-per-lead bidding is removed; vertical-level Target CPA is deprecated

Historical reports

—

Past performance data does NOT carry over — download before migration

BBB callouts

—

No longer supported — replace with at least 6 structured callouts

Feature

Staying the Same ✓

Changing ↗

Pay-per-lead model

You still only pay for valid leads — calls and messages — not clicks

—

Ad placement

Top of Google Search and Google Maps, same positions as before

—

Keywordless targeting

Targeting still based on service categories and location, no keyword lists required

—

Google Verified badge

Transfers automatically if you’ve already verifiedYou still only pay for valid leads — calls and messages — not clicks

—

Where you manage campaigns

—

Moves from the standalone LSA dashboard to Google Ads

Budget structure

—

Weekly budgets convert to daily averages (monthly spend cap stays the same)

Bidding options

—

Manual cost-per-lead bidding is removed; vertical-level Target CPA is deprecated

Historical reports

—

Past performance data does NOT carry over — download before migration

BBB callouts

—

No longer supported — replace with at least 6 structured callouts

The Migration Timeline

Google is rolling this out in phases rather than all at once. Here’s when to expect it:

August 2026

First phase begins for select home and storefront service businesses in the U.S. — plumbing, HVAC, electrical, cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control, and moving.

Late 2026

Migration expands to broader advertiser groups, including service-area businesses without storefronts and accounts with custom bidding or booking configurations — which includes many law firms.

2027

All remaining business categories and non-U.S. accounts complete the transition.

The Short Version

The One Thing You Must Do Before Migration

Your past performance data — impressions, clicks, weekly spend, ad-level reports — will not transfer to Google Ads. Your lead history (contact details, message history, call recordings) will carry over, but your campaign-level analytics will not.

Before your migration date, download your reports from the LSA dashboard. Go to your dashboard, navigate to the reporting section, and export everything you want to keep. Once migration happens, that data is gone from the platform permanently.

What Does Transfer Automatically

Your targeted locations, service types, business categories, budget limits, ad schedule, and business photos all move over seamlessly. Your Google Verified badge transfers if you’ve already completed verification. Insurance and license re-verification are not required.

How Bidding Is Changing

This is the area that requires the most attention for firms that have dialed in their LSA bidding strategy.

Weekly Budgets Become Daily Budgets

Your current weekly budget will be divided by 7 to set a daily average. Your monthly spending cap stays the same — daily average × 30.4 — so your overall spend won’t change. Daily spend may fluctuate on high-demand days, but billing won’t exceed the monthly limit.

Manual Bidding Is Gone

The ability to set a maximum cost-per-lead manually is being removed. Google Ads doesn’t support this bidding model. If you’ve been managing CPL tightly, you’ll need to adapt to the automated bidding options available in Google Ads.

Vertical-Level Target CPA Is Gone

If you previously ran different Target CPA amounts for separate practice areas under one campaign (say, different targets for family law vs. criminal defense), Google will calculate a single unified campaign-level CPA and apply it across all categories. If you want to maintain separate bidding for different practice areas, you’ll need to set up separate campaigns for each one after migration.

How the New Platform Works

Once you’re in Google Ads, here’s where to find everything:

Campaign performance: Your Google Ads dashboard. Look at "Conversions" (total charged leads), "Cost" (total spend), and "Cost / conv." (average cost-per-lead) as your primary metrics.
Budget and bidding: Settings tab → Campaigns menu → select your pay-per-lead campaign.
Your lead inbox: Goals → Conversions → Leads. This replaces the LSA lead inbox and has all the same functionality — lead status, call/message type, feedback, and CRM export.
Message leads: Click into an individual lead to open the communication panel and reply directly from Google Ads.
Pausing your ads: Settings → Campaigns → toggle status to Paused. Toggle back to Enabled to resume.
Business details: Your business name, address, and hours sync automatically from your Google Business Profile. Edit them at the source — changes propagate to Google Ads within 24 hours. Note: significant changes to your business name or address will trigger a 24–48 hour verification pause.

Allow Up to Two Weeks for Ramp-Up

Google notes that while many ads will start running immediately after migration, it can take up to two weeks for campaign performance to return to stable levels. Don’t panic if you see a dip in leads right after your migration date — this is expected and temporary.

Frequently Asked Questions

How will I know when my account is being migrated?

You’ll receive an email 14 days before your migration date, a reminder 7 days before, and a confirmation once migration is complete. A banner will also appear in your LSA dashboard. On migration day, logging into the LSA dashboard will automatically redirect you to Google Ads.

Can I set up a new LSA campaign after migration?

Not directly inside Google Ads — not yet. To create new campaigns or local accounts, visit g.co/localservices. Google says campaign creation will become available inside Google Ads at a later date.

Is this the same as a standard Performance Max campaign?

No — and this distinction matters. While it lives inside the Performance Max campaign type, pay-per-lead campaigns are fundamentally different. You pay per lead, not per click. Ads only appear on Google Search and Google Maps, not YouTube or Gmail or the Display Network. Targeting remains keywordless. And you can still earn the Google Verified badge. Think of it as LSA with a new interface, not as a traditional PMax campaign.

Will my Google Screened / Google Verified badge carry over?

Yes. If you’ve already completed verification, your status and badge transfer automatically. Insurance and license re-verification are not required during migration.

What happens to my historical lead data?

Your lead history — contact details, message threads, and call recordings — carries over to the new Lead Manager in Google Ads. Your campaign-level performance reports (impressions, clicks, spend history) do not carry over and must be downloaded before migration.

Bottom Line for Law Firms

The core value proposition of Local Services Ads — pay per qualified lead, appear at the top of search results, build trust with the Google Screened badge — is unchanged. What’s changing is the management interface and some bidding mechanics.

For most firms, the practical day-to-day impact will be minimal once you’re set up in Google Ads. The two things that deserve your immediate attention are: downloading your historical reports before migration, and planning for the end of manual cost-per-lead bidding if you’ve been relying on that control.

If you manage campaigns for multiple practice areas with different performance targets, now is the time to think about whether you want to split those into separate campaigns to maintain bidding flexibility after the migration.

Questions about how this affects your campaigns?

Reach out to your EverSpark Interactive account manager — we’ll walk you through exactly what to expect for your account and help you prepare before your migration date.