Local Services Ads charge you per lead rather than per click. That changes what the work is. There is no bidding on keywords and no landing page to tune. What decides your cost per lead is what happens after the phone rings.
That work is daily, and it is unglamorous.
What managing the account actually looks like
- Listening to every recorded call and scoring it: booked, billable, junk, or needs a follow-up
- Writing a note on each one, so the dispute history is there when you need it
- Filing a dispute on every junk lead, while the job is still fresh
- Archiving leads, marking jobs booked, and replying to messages
- Watching the daily budget, and pausing it when the pipeline is already full
- Keeping photos, services, and reviews current so the account does not go quiet
None of it is complicated. All of it is relentless, and it is the first thing to slip when you are on a roof.
What it costs when nobody does it
The damage compounds.
You pay for leads you should not have paid for. A junk lead nobody disputes is simply a lead you paid for. That money is recoverable, and it does not recover itself.
The account goes quiet and Google notices. Local Services Ads placement responds to how you behave in the account: how fast you reply, whether your information is current, whether messages get answered. An account nobody is tending loses ground to one that is being tended.
Disputes are the part people skip
A dispute is not a complaint. It is the mechanism Google provides for the leads that were never yours to pay for, and using it is part of running the channel properly.
We file them within about thirty days, as a working habit rather than because a clock is running out. We do not publish a deadline: the figures in circulation disagree, and the one we were able to test did not hold.
Why the habit, and not a deadline
It teaches Google what a good lead looks like for your business, which shapes what you get sent. You get credited while the campaign is still running, rather than after the budget is spent. And disputing regularly means you are in the profile regularly - Google's system favors accounts that are actively managed, though that last reason is our recommendation rather than something Google documents.
How to dispute Local Services Ads leads covers which calls qualify and how to file one.
Who this is for
Home service trades that qualify for Google’s Local Services program: plumbers, electricians, roofers, heating and air, towing, pest control, garage doors, locksmiths, appliance repair, soft washing, and landscaping among others.
The work is remote, so where you are does not change how the account is run. What changes is the competition in your market and what a booked job is worth to you.
What this costs
Local Services Ads management is part of the monthly work, not a separate line item. The three ways to work with us are on How We Help, with the prices on the page. What you pay Google for the ads themselves is separate, and it goes to Google rather than to us.