What each one charges
| Google Search ads | Local Services Ads, moving into Performance Max with a pay-per-lead goal | |
|---|---|---|
| You pay when | Someone clicks. | Google counts a valid lead, such as a call or a message. Google says this does not change in the move. |
| Where the ad shows | Search, and anywhere else you have chosen, such as Search partners if you left them on. | Google says these pay-per-lead campaigns stay on Search and Maps, in the same kind of positions as Local Services Ads. |
| How you choose the work | Keywords, ads and negatives you write. | Google says the campaign stays keywordless. Targeting is the services and areas you offer. |
| UK timing | Available now. | Non-US accounts are in the 2027 phase. No UK date on the help page. |
| A published UK price | Click ranges differ by search. See the trade studies, starting with plumbers. | Not on Google’s pages we read. Trade2Base says typically £15 to £45 a lead for plumbing, electrical and heating in UK cities, without a sample. |
A lead is still not a booked job. A Local Services Ads lead that is outside your area, or for work you do not do, has to be disputed on Google’s rules and marked on your sheet. A Search click that never rings is the same kind of problem, one step earlier. Compare them on won jobs over the same weeks, which is the method on Google Ads or bought leads.
The dates Google has actually published
The en-GB help page “Local Services Ads transition to Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals” says the place and the way the ads show stay the same, and the screen you use is what changes. The timeline on that page and on the verticals page:
- August 2026. First phase, selected home and shop-front advertisers in the United States. The list includes plumbing, HVAC, electrical, appliance repair, house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control and removals.
- Late 2026. Broader groups, including service-area businesses without a shop front, and accounts with custom bidding or booking setups. The verticals page also mentions professional services in that phase. It does not say those groups include the UK.
- 2027. Non-US accounts, and remaining categories that were not moved in 2026. The verticals page names healthcare and some advanced-verification categories, such as locksmiths and garage door specialists, inside that later expansion.
Until a UK account is invited, the practical work is ordinary Search, plus Local Services Ads in the product you already have if you are eligible. Export the reports you want. Google has told advertisers that historical campaign reporting does not simply appear in the new campaign.
Pay-per-lead campaigns, during the early phase, are described as available for businesses operating in the United States. Google points UK readers at the verticals page for when other countries are added. That is the whole of the published UK timing. Anyone who gives you a month in 2026 for a British account is ahead of Google’s page.
The badge, and the guarantee that ended
Google’s Verified-badge article says new advertisers get the badge after they pass the Local Services checks, and existing advertisers who had already qualified receive the new badge without another application. Ranking, Google says, is not changed by the badge swap.
The money-back guarantee that came with Google Guaranteed is being discontinued. The page says eligible consumers can request reimbursement for services booked through Local Services Ads before 7 December 2025, and that the request has to be in within 30 days of the work being completed. If a customer mentions “Guaranteed”, the accurate reply is that the badge is now Verified and the guarantee attached to the old badge is not still on offer for new bookings.
SoNick Marketing’s trades guide, which we cite for click ranges elsewhere, says the same thing in shorter form: since late 2025 the old Guaranteed and Screened badges have been replaced by Verified, and the money-back guarantee has gone. The Google page is the one to rely on for the 7 December 2025 date.
How to choose for a UK trade
- You want particular searches and a hard area. Search ads, with Presence targeting, as in the service-area guide. Emergency plumbing and planned boiler work should not share a budget.
- You want to pay when someone contacts you, and your category is eligible. Local Services Ads, with the lead price taken from your screen, not from a blog’s “typically”.
- You are comparing either of them with a directory. Use the Checkatrade worksheet or the Bark and MyBuilder comparison. A lead fee and a click are only comparable after both have been divided by won jobs.
House cleaners, roofers and electricians are named in Google’s US phase. That is not a promise that a firm in Cardiff, Glasgow or Belfast can open a pay-per-lead campaign in 2026. Check the account. If the category is not offered, Search is the product that is, and the cost studies on this site are written for that case.
Look in the account before you budget for a lead price
Once a quarter, or when someone tells you “Local Services Ads have moved”, open the account and answer four questions from the screen. Do not answer them from a newsletter.
- Is there a pay-per-lead campaign, or only the Local Services product you already use? If the new campaign type is not offered, you are still on the current product.
- What does a lead cost on that screen, for your services and your area? Write the figure and the date. A range quoted for “UK cities” is not this number.
- Which services and which areas are ticked? Keywordless targeting will spend on a service you forgot to untick.
- Is the badge Verified, and are you still describing a money-back guarantee for new bookings? Google’s page says that guarantee is not there for bookings after the change.
If the answer to the first question is no, keep spending decisions on Search, with the trade study for your job. A UK month that is not on Google’s help page is not a reason to pause a campaign that is booking work.
When a lead does arrive, write one outcome the same day. The price on the screen is what you paid for the contact. It is the cost per booked job only after you have thrown out the ones that were not jobs.
- Booked. A time was agreed for work you do, in an area you cover.
- Wrong service or out of area. Mark it, and dispute it if Google’s rules for that lead allow a dispute. Do not also count it as a win because the phone rang.
- Not answered. Your side. A lead you did not pick up is not evidence the lead price is too high.
Divide the month’s lead fees by the booked row only. A report that divides by every lead Google charged will make a sloppy follow-up look like an expensive product.
Do not look for those leads in the search terms report. Google describes Local Services Ads as keywordless. The words the person typed are not the control you have. The service and the area ticked on the lead are. Search campaigns still have a search terms report, and that is where a click’s query belongs. Mixing a Search click range into an LSA lead price, or the other way round, is how both products get a cost that neither of them earned.
Questions from owners
Do Local Services Ads cost the same as Google Search ads?
No. Search ads charge for clicks. Local Services Ads charge for leads such as calls and messages. After the move into Google Ads, Google says the pay-per-lead model stays, and the ads still show on Search and Maps rather than across the rest of the web.
When do UK Local Services Ads move into Google Ads?
Google’s en-GB help page, read on 15 November 2026, puts non-US accounts in 2027. August 2026 was the start for selected home and shop-front advertisers in the United States, including plumbing, electrical, house cleaning, roofing, pest control and removals. There is no published UK day or month.
What happens to the Google Guaranteed badge?
Google has replaced the old badges with one Google Verified badge. Existing advertisers who had already passed the checks get it without reapplying. The money-back guarantee that sat with Google Guaranteed is being discontinued. Google says eligible consumers could request reimbursement for services booked through Local Services Ads before 7 December 2025, within 30 days of the work being completed.
Will my UK reviews and licence checks be redone?
Google’s migration page says verification status and the Verified badge transfer, and that you do not redo those checks as part of the move. Read the email Google sends your account rather than a summary from a third party. Export any campaign reports you want to keep. Google has said historical campaign reporting does not all move across.
How much is a Local Services Ads lead for a UK plumber?
Google does not publish a UK price list on the pages we read. Trade2Base wrote on 27 May 2026 that the cost per lead typically falls between £15 and £45 for plumbing, electrical and heating in UK cities. They do not show the accounts behind “typically”. Use your own lead price from the Local Services Ads billing screen, then divide by won jobs.
Which one should a small trade run?
If you need to choose the searches, the hours and the postcodes yourself, that is Search. If your category is eligible and you would rather pay when a person contacts you, Local Services Ads is the other product, with less control of the keyword. Many firms run both and then keep the one with the lower cost per won job on the same sheet. Do not add them together and call it one cost per lead.
Are Local Services Ads available for every UK trade?
No. Eligibility depends on the category and the place. Google’s migration notes list plumbing, electrical, cleaning, roofing and others for the US phase. A UK firm still has to check the Local Services Ads application for its own category. A garage or a cleaner should not assume the badge is on offer because a plumber down the road has it.
Does the move change what I pay a management fee for?
The ads can be managed inside Google Ads after migration, which is one login rather than two. The fee is still for the work, and the lead bill is still paid to Google. Check that you have Admin on the Google Ads account they will land in. The ownership checklist is separate from this article.
How do I tell whether my UK account has already moved?
Open the account. If you cannot see a pay-per-lead campaign, you have not moved, whatever a newsletter says. If you can see one, write down the lead price on that screen, the services and areas that are ticked, and the date. That price is the one to compare with a booked job. A published “typical” range for UK cities is not a substitute for the figure in your account.
Does every Local Services Ads charge count as a booked job?
No. The price on the screen is what you paid for the contact. Divide the month’s lead fees by leads that became a booked job in an area you cover. A wrong service, an out-of-area lead and a lead you did not answer are not bookings. Dispute a lead only when Google’s rules for that lead allow it.
Where the figures come from
Checked on 15 November 2026 unless a source prints its own date.
- Local Services Ads transition to Performance Max. Google Ads Help, en-GB, read 15 November 2026. Pay per lead stays. Search and Maps only. August 2026 for selected US home services. 2027 for non-US accounts.
- Supported business verticals during migration. Phase 1, August 2026: selected US plumbing, electrical, house cleaning, roofing and others. Phase 3, 2027: non-US accounts and remaining categories.
- About the Google Verified badge. One badge. Existing advertisers move across without a new application. The money-back guarantee attached to Google Guaranteed is discontinued. Reimbursement requests for services booked before 7 December 2025.
- Checkatrade vs Google Ads. Trade2Base, 27 May 2026. Says Local Services Ads cost per lead “typically” falls between £15 and £45 for plumbing, electrical and heating in UK cities. No sample size is given.