Google Is Migrating Local Services Ads Into Google Ads in Phases: What Businesses Need to Know

If you run a service-based business and use Google Local Services Ads (LSAs), there is a major change coming to the way your advertising is managed.

Google is moving Local Services Ads into the Google Ads platform. Beginning in August 2026, selected U.S. home and storefront service businesses started transitioning, with additional businesses expected to move later in 2026 and throughout 2027.

But this isn’t simply moving your LSA campaign into a standard Search campaign. Google is migrating LSAs into a specialized Performance Max campaign with pay-per-lead goals. The good news? Many of the things businesses like about LSAs are staying intact.

What Is Staying the Same?

The biggest advantage is that you will still pay for valid leads rather than clicks. Your ads will continue appearing on Google Search and Google Maps, and the campaigns will remain keywordless. Google will continue using your business information, services and service areas to determine which customers see your ads.

Your Google Verified status and existing verification information will also transfer automatically in eligible cases. Your customer lead history, including contact information and message history, will transfer to the new Google Ads Leads experience as well.

What’s Better About the Change?

For businesses and marketers, having LSAs inside Google Ads could make managing Google advertising much easier.

Instead of jumping between separate platforms, businesses can manage budgets, targeting, lead routing and campaign information in one place. This creates a more unified view of your Google advertising strategy.

It also makes it easier for a marketing agency to look at the bigger picture. Your LSA activity, Search campaigns and other Google advertising can be evaluated together.

For service businesses that already use Google Ads, this could make the review / management process easier.

What’s the Downside?

One of the biggest is less control over bidding. Google is eliminating manual bidding options, including manually setting a maximum cost per lead. Vertical-level Target CPA settings are also being removed.

That matters because some service businesses have very specific lead values. A roofing company, plumber or HVAC company may be willing to pay considerably more for one qualified lead than another business.

There is also an important reporting issue: historical LSA campaign performance reports will not transfer into Google Ads. Google recommends downloading your historical reports before your account migrates.

What Should Service Businesses Do Now?

Download your historical reports and keep a record of your lead volume, cost per lead and overall performance. Watch for Google’s migration notification, which is expected to arrive before your transition date.

Remember that the platform is changing but the goal isn’t. You still want your advertising to put your business in front of people who are actively looking for your services and turn those searches into qualified calls, messages and customers.

The move into Google Ads could ultimately make managing that process easier. But as Google gives its automation more control, businesses will need to pay closer attention to their campaign settings, lead quality and actual return on advertising spend.