When a homeowner searches "furnace repair near me," Google can show two very different kinds of paid ads: Local Services Ads with a badge, your star rating and a call button, and regular Search ads that look like text results and send people to your website. They charge differently, give you different levels of control, and suit different businesses.
Here's how they compare as of 2026, including some changes that took effect this year.
The short version
| Local Services Ads (LSA) | Google Search Ads | |
|---|---|---|
| You pay for | Leads (calls, messages, bookings) | Clicks |
| Targeting | Service categories, job types, service area | Keywords, locations, schedule, audiences |
| Where people land | Your LSA profile, then call or message | Your website or landing page |
| Verification | Required (Google Verified screening) | None beyond normal ad policies |
| Control over ad text | Very little | Full |
| Reviews shown | Yes, from your Google profile | Only through extensions and assets |
| Setup effort | Moderate (verification paperwork) | Moderate to high (keywords, ads, landing pages) |
How Local Services Ads work
LSAs appear at the top of many home service searches. You pick your service categories and job types, set your service area and hours, and Google shows your profile to people searching for those services.
Charging. You pay per lead, not per click. A lead is a call, message or booking request that meets Google's valid-lead criteria. As of 2026, Google screens leads automatically and credits ones it decides are invalid, such as spam or wrong numbers. The old manual dispute process was replaced with this automatic crediting in 2024, though you can still rate leads to give Google feedback.
Missed calls now cost money. Starting October 1, 2026, Google bills for unanswered calls during your business hours when the caller stays on the line more than 20 seconds. If you use a phone menu, the 20 seconds start after the caller presses a key. Follow-up calls with the same person within 15 days are counted as one lead. In plain terms: if your phones aren't answered during the hours you list, you can now pay for leads you never spoke to. That makes the cost of a missed call more direct than ever.
Verification. Google consolidated Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and its other LSA trust programs into one Google Verified badge starting in October 2025. Depending on your trade and location, verification can include business registration, license checks, insurance and background checks on the owner or field staff. Plan on a few weeks of back and forth, and keep your documents current or your ads can pause.
Ranking. Google doesn't publish a formula, but responsiveness, review count and rating, proximity, and whether your business is open all matter. A well-maintained Google Business Profile helps. See our Google Business Profile checklist for contractors.
LSAs are moving into Google Ads. In mid-2026 Google began moving Local Services Ads into the main Google Ads platform as Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals. A limited group of U.S. advertisers started migrating in August 2026, with more U.S. accounts later in the year and the rest in 2027. Reach (Search and Maps, no keywords) and pay-per-lead billing stay the same. Budgets switch from weekly to daily, manual max-cost-per-lead bidding goes away in favor of a target cost per lead, the old LSA dashboard is retired, and leads are handled in Lead Manager inside Google Ads. If you haven't migrated yet, download your historical LSA reports first, since Google has said they don't carry over.
How Google Search Ads work
Search Ads are the classic text ads. You choose keywords, write the ads, set bids and budgets, and send clicks to your site.
Charging. You pay per click. A click doesn't guarantee a call or form fill, so your landing page and follow-up do a lot of the work.
Control. This is the big advantage. You decide:
- Which searches you show for, and which to exclude with negative keywords ("jobs," "DIY," "salary," "free")
- Exactly which towns, down to a radius or ZIP code
- Hours and days, including bid adjustments for nights and weekends
- Ad copy, offers and which page each ad sends people to
- Which services get the budget (push water heater replacement, not drain snaking)
No verification badge, but also no paperwork to start beyond Google's normal advertiser verification.
When LSA usually makes more sense
- Emergency and same-day trades. Plumbing, HVAC repair, electrical, locksmiths. People want to call someone now, and LSA puts a phone button and your reviews right at the top.
- You answer the phone. With the 2026 missed-call billing, LSA rewards businesses that answer live during listed hours, or route calls to an answering service or AI receptionist.
- You have solid reviews. Your rating shows on the ad. A strong profile helps you win the click.
- You don't want to manage keywords. LSA is simpler to run day to day.
When Search Ads usually make more sense
- Higher-ticket, planned projects. Remodels, hardscape, additions and full system replacements. People research these, visit websites and compare. A strong landing page with project photos often converts better than a profile.
- You want specific jobs, not all jobs. Search Ads let you put budget behind the work you actually want.
- Your category isn't on LSA, or your verification is stuck.
- You need precise geographic or schedule control.
- You want to test offers. A spring cleaning special or financing promotion is easy to test in Search ads and hard to express in LSA.
Running both
Many home service businesses run both. LSA catches the "call someone now" searches; Search Ads cover planned projects and the specific services you want more of. A few rules:
- Track them separately. Use a separate tracking number for Search Ads and tag LSA leads by source in your CRM. Our guide to tracking where your leads come from covers how.
- Judge by booked jobs, not leads. A $60 LSA lead that never books costs more than a $150 Search lead that turns into a $9,000 system replacement. (Those numbers are hypothetical; use your own.)
- Answer everything fast. Both channels lose money when calls go to voicemail and forms sit for hours.
- Review monthly. Look at cost per booked job by channel, not cost per click or cost per lead alone.
If you're also weighing social ads, see Google Ads vs. Meta ads for home services.
A quick decision checklist
- Do we answer the phone live during our listed hours? If not, fix that before turning on LSA.
- Do we have enough reviews to compete on the ad?
- Are our licenses and insurance documents up to date for verification?
- Which jobs do we most want more of, and can LSA target them, or do we need keywords?
- Can we track calls and forms by source all the way to booked revenue?
How RGS helps
We manage Local Services Ads and Google Search campaigns for service-area businesses like plumbers and HVAC companies, with reporting tied to booked jobs rather than clicks. If missed calls are the problem, our AI services and automations can answer and text back. See our digital marketing service to get started.
