Campaign Management
Local Services Ads Management
Local Services Ads are the Google ads that carry a Google Verified badge and sit above the normal ads, and you pay when a customer calls or messages you rather than per click. We set them up, get you through Google's checks, and manage them next to your Search campaigns.
Free 20 minute call with Richard, who runs the campaigns. No lock-in contracts.
- Your account, your card
- You pay Google or Meta directly and keep full access to the ad account. If you leave, it stays yours.
- Tracking before spend
- Nothing goes live until calls and form enquiries are counted, so every report is in enquiries, not clicks.
- One published fee
- The management fee is on the Campaign Management page, worked out from your monthly ad spend.
Where the money usually goes
- The profile was set up once and left, so it shows for job types and areas you do not want.
- Charged calls that were not genuine enquiries, such as sales calls, wrong numbers and job seekers, are never disputed.
- Missed calls and slow replies push the ad down, because Google ranks on responsiveness.
- Nobody asks customers for reviews, though review count and rating decide where the ad shows.
- The weekly budget is whatever Google suggested, not what a job is worth to you.
- Search ads and Local Services Ads are reported separately, so nobody knows which is cheaper per job.
What we run instead
- Setup and screening handled with you: the registration, insurance and Business Profile checks Google asks for in your category.
- Job types and service areas set to the work you want, and changed as your diary changes.
- Charged calls checked, and the ones that were not genuine enquiries disputed with Google for a credit.
- A review routine from day one, so your rating and count keep climbing.
- A weekly budget set from what a booked job is worth to you.
- One report covering Local Services Ads and Search, in cost per enquiry and jobs booked.
Which businesses can use Local Services Ads in the UK
Google's UK help pages list home services including plumbers, electricians, roofers, HVAC (heating and air conditioning), cleaning, carpet cleaning, window cleaning and window repair, landscaping and lawn care, tree services, fencing, flooring, carpenters, handymen, garage doors, moving services, junk removal, pest control, appliance repair, water damage, general contractors and home inspection.
Lawyer categories and estate agents are listed for Greater London only. Locksmiths are not on the UK list at the time of writing, October 2026, so a locksmith's route is Search with call-only ads.
How Local Services Ads rank
The signals Google uses to order these ads include your review score and number of reviews, how quickly you respond to calls and messages, your business hours, and any serious or repeated complaints. Google has also said that distance from the customer is often not a strong signal on its own. Budget alone does not keep you at the top: a business that misses calls or has few reviews loses its place however much it spends.
Local Services Ads vs Google Ads
Run both if you can. Local Services Ads charge per call or message and carry the badge, but you control little: there is no ad text to write and no search terms to choose, only job types and areas. Search ads give you control over the wording, the page and the searches, at a price per click.
The fair test is cost per booked job. We report the two side by side, and move budget to whichever is winning that month.
What Local Services Ads cost
You set a weekly budget and pay for each charged call or message. The price per call depends on your trade and area, and Google shows an estimate during setup. Calls that were not genuine enquiries can be disputed for a credit, which is why someone needs to check them.
Already running ads? We will look at the account before the call and tell you what we find.
Book a free callQuestions we get asked
- What happened to Google Guaranteed?
- Google replaced the Google Guaranteed and Google Screened badges with a single Google Verified badge, and has discontinued the money-back guarantee: customers can only claim for services booked through the ads before 7 December 2025. Advertisers who had already passed the checks earned the new badge automatically.
- Can a locksmith use Local Services Ads in the UK?
- Not at the time of writing. Locksmiths are not on Google's UK category list, so for now the route is Search campaigns with call-only ads, a tight radius and on-call hours.
- How long does verification take?
- Google says screening takes three to four weeks on average after your documents go in, and every advertiser needs a public, verified Business Profile first. We run Search campaigns in the meantime so the phone is not waiting on Google.
- Do we need reviews before we start?
- No, but they matter. Ads with more reviews and a higher rating tend to show more often, so we start asking your customers for reviews on day one.
- Who pays Google?
- You do, from your own card, in an account in your name. Our management fee is separate and published on the Campaign Management page.
Other ways we run paid ads
All sectors or read how Campaign Management works.
Want to know what your ad spend is bringing in?
Book a free call. Tell us what you spend now and we will tell you what we would change first.