Leads are vital for sustaining any business. Without a steady stream of new customers, a business cannot thrive. Relying solely on existing customers is not sustainable, making it essential to grow and attract new customers who are yet to engage with your business.

As a business owner, it can be difficult to manage your business and the obligations of your current customers, and finding new customers sometimes just falls on the backburner. This is where Google Local Service Ads come into play. We will dive into what Google Local Service Ads are, how they work, and how they can help you effortlessly find new prospects.

Let's Go!

Google Local Service Ads is a relatively new advertising platform introduced in 2019 that follows a pay-per-lead model rather than the traditional pay-per-click model. These ads appear at the very top of a Google search that displays the "top three" listed businesses under the category that you search for.

The purpose of these ads is to allow businesses to show themselves front-and-center whenever a customer searches for services within their industry. For example, a plumber may want to appear on a Local Service Ads listing so that customers in his service area can find them when searching for a plumber.

They are also meant to help customers easily find services from Google Verified businesses within their local area. Using the example from before, if you're in desperate need for a plumber, you can easily find a plumber by searching for "plumbers near me" and clicking on a local service ad. 

Before we dive into how to utilize Google Local Service Ads, let's go over a few more details about this ads platform.

Pay-Per-Click vs. Pay-Per-Lead

As stated in the name, pay-per-click (PPC) ads means that you pay every time someone clicks on your search ad. Though these ads do bring good results for businesses, they aren't necessarily the best for service-based businesses, especially if most leads are taken over the phone rather than a contact form.

Alternatively, pay-per-lead (PPL) ads means that you are only charged when you receive a legitimate lead for your business. Just because someone clicks on your Local Service Ad doesn't mean you will get charged.

You will only pay for calls if you:

1. Answer the phone
2. The call is longer than 30 seconds
3. You do not dispute the call.

More on disputing calls, if you receive a call that has nothing to do with your business, or if a caller is a duplicate lead, or if you receive a spam call, you can dispute the call within 30 days and potentially receive a credit for the lead.

Being a Google Verified Business

While setting up a Local Service Ads account, you will have to go through several rounds of background checks and verifications to ensure that you are the legitimate owner of your business and that you are licensed to practice in your field.

The number of steps necessary depends on the type of service you provide. For example, you may need to provide a Certificate of Liability to prove that your business is insured. If you are a lawyer, you will need to provide your BAR license for the state that you are admitted in.

Every business has different requirements before an account is set up and running. However, having a digital marketing team by your side will make the process much easier and stress free for you.



Though simple looking at the surface level, Google Local Service Ads utilizes impressive targeting options that allow businesses to project themselves to the right customers in the right place at the right time.

Targeting by Service

As implied by the name, businesses can target customers based off of services provided. This will help narrow down the search and allow Google to present appropriate businesses relative to the search query.

Once you select an industry, you will then be able to select services within that industry. For example, if you are a lawyer, you can select the different areas of law that you practice. If you are a tree cutting business, you can pick and choose which types of jobs you can take. This again helps Google narrow down the results so that a customer can find the exact services they need.

Targeting by Location

As per the "local" part of the name, Google Local Service ads allows you to target customers based on locations. This is especially useful if you want to only target areas you are conducting your business in.

You can target customers as broad as an entire state all the way down to as specific as a ZIP code. Along with targeting users by service, this allows you to find individuals who are searching for a specific service in the areas that you can serve.

This is all once again a two-fold effort by Google. This level of detailed targeting ensures that users are finding verified businesses in their local area, and it ensures that businesses can find qualified leads from users who are actively searching for their services.

Messaging Feature

In addition to receiving phone call leads, Google Local Service Ads also allow customers to send messages to your business account. Though most of your leads will likely come in the form of a phone call, having this option enabled will give your customers another way to communicate with you.

Verified Reviews

Once a job has been served to a client who found you through Local Service Ads, you can direct them to a specific landing page that allows them to leave a verified review for you. Unlike normal Google reviews, this review will have a notation showing that its a "Google Verified Job" and it will only display on your Local Service Ads listing. This type of review adds a layer of credibility to your business, and it shows that your reviews are genuine and not generated by bots.



Provided below is a list of the industries that are available for Google Local Service ads. Google is continuously expanding its list of services across the United States.

If you are interested in learning more about Local Service Ads, contact PS Digital and see what we can do for you!