What changed: Google says existing Local Services Ads campaigns will move over the coming months to a specialised Performance Max campaign type with pay-per-lead goals. Your Search and Maps placements and pay-per-lead model remain, but historical Local Services Ads performance reports will not move into Google Ads. Save those reports before your account migrates.
This is a campaign-management migration, not a promise that every local advertiser is moving on the same day. Google describes an August 2026 first phase for selected U.S. home and storefront services, a broader late-2026 phase and a 2027 phase for non-U.S. accounts and remaining categories. Your account administrator should receive a notice before the scheduled date.
I checked Google’s current migration guidance on August 30, 2026. This checklist separates the documented platform changes from the account checks you still need to perform. It complements DMT’s Google Ads target-bidding checklist; it is specifically about Local Services Ads and pay-per-lead campaign operations.
What stays the same, and what moves
| Area | Google’s documented position | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Billing model | You continue to pay for valid leads, such as calls and messages, rather than ordinary clicks. | Check that lead-status and charge definitions in the new account match your operating report. |
| Placements | Pay-per-lead campaigns continue to serve exclusively on Google Search and Google Maps. | Do not assume the campaign has become standard all-network Performance Max. |
| Targeting | The campaign remains keywordless and uses service categories, areas and other settings. | Recheck service areas, categories and schedules after migration. |
| Management | Budgets, targeting and customer inquiries move into Google Ads. | Make sure the right administrators and lead owners can access the new workflows. |
| History | Previous LSA performance reports do not transition to Google Ads. | Export or capture the reports before migration day. |
The 2026 migration timeline
- August 2026: Google says the first phase covers selected U.S. home and storefront services, including plumbing, HVAC, electrical, appliance repair, house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control and moving.
- Late 2026: The rollout expands to broader groups, including service-area businesses and accounts with custom bidding or booking configurations.
- 2027: Google says non-U.S. accounts and remaining business categories transition.
Google says the account administrator receives an email 14 days before the scheduled migration, followed by a reminder seven days later. The current Local Services Ads dashboard then redirects to the Google Ads campaign overview. Treat the email and dashboard banner as account-specific evidence; this public page does not establish your date or eligibility.
Pre-migration checklist
1. Save reports and build a baseline
Google explicitly warns that historic impressions, clicks, spend, leads and ad-level performance reports will not carry over. Export what the dashboard currently allows and retain dated screenshots if you need the evidence immediately. Keep the account, campaign, date range, filters and timezone with each export. Google describes a dedicated download page as coming soon, but that is not a promise that it is available for your account today.
2. Reconcile the settings Google will transfer
Google says it transfers targeted locations, service types, business categories, budget limits, ad schedule and business photos automatically. Capture a pre-migration copy of those settings and assign an owner to compare them in Google Ads. Include booking configurations or custom bidding in the review even though the public page does not specify how every configuration will appear.
3. Recalculate the budget and bidding expectation
Google’s conversion is mechanical: the historical average weekly budget is divided by seven to produce a daily average. The monthly cap is that daily average multiplied by 30.4. Daily spend can fluctuate on high-demand days while the monthly limit remains the documented ceiling. Manual bidding is no longer supported, and vertical-level Target CPA is replaced by a unified campaign-level Target CPA. If different business categories need different bids, Google’s documented option is separate campaigns for each vertical.
Do not treat this formula as a performance forecast. After migration, compare the new budget and target with your saved baseline and the qualified-lead definition. DMT’s broader Google Ads automation guide is useful for the surrounding Smart Bidding context, but it does not replace this LSA-specific check.
4. Confirm Google Business Profile ownership
Business name, physical address and standard hours are sourced one way from Google Business Profile. Google says minor changes can sync within 24 hours, while significant name, address or primary-category changes can trigger a verification review that typically takes 24 to 48 hours and may temporarily pause the campaign. Update core details in the profile, not by trying to override them in Google Ads. Service areas and ad schedules can be adjusted independently after migration.
5. Replace unsupported callouts and preserve lead ownership
Google says Better Business Bureau callouts are no longer supported and recommends selecting at least six other structured callouts, such as business hours, specialties or accepted payment methods. Record who handles calls, messages and bookings, then confirm the lead destination before the first post-migration shift.
Where the lead workflow lives after migration
In Google Ads, go to Goals → Conversions → Leads. Google says this replaces the Local Services Ads lead inbox and retains lead status, lead type, feedback and download options for CRM import. Message leads can be opened and answered from the communication panel. Test one known lead path and one CRM export before you assume the handoff is complete.
If an agency or internal tool pulls the new lead evidence through an API, keep that integration review separate from the UI migration. DMT’s Google Ads API v25.1 migration guide covers versioned API dependencies; it does not confirm that a reader’s LSA lead export or CRM mapping works.
- Sign in with the administrator account named in the migration notice.
- Confirm the campaign name, pay-per-lead goal, locations, categories, schedule, daily average budget and target.
- Open the Leads page and verify the expected lead types and status labels.
- Download a controlled sample and reconcile it with the CRM’s required fields.
- Check phone routing and message permissions with the person who owns customer response.
- Monitor for up to the two-week ramp window Google describes, but judge lead quality and business outcomes from your own evidence.
Do not confuse this with standard Performance Max
| Question | Pay-per-lead campaign after LSA migration | Standard Performance Max |
|---|---|---|
| What is charged? | Valid leads such as calls, messages or bookings. | Standard PMax operates on a click-based model described by Google’s FAQ. |
| Where can it serve? | Google Search and Google Maps. | Google’s broader ad networks, including YouTube, Gmail and Display. |
| Keyword management? | Keywordless; based on profile and campaign settings. | Different campaign controls and asset requirements apply. |
| Creation path? | Google says new pay-per-lead campaigns cannot yet be created directly in Google Ads; use the Local Services entry point. | Standard PMax has its own creation and setup flow. |
This distinction matters when someone opens the new campaign and expects every standard PMax asset, network or optimisation practice to be available. Use DMT’s Google Ads language-targeting migration guide for a separate campaign-setting audit, and keep paid-lead evidence separate from organic measurement in the Search Console platform-property guide.
For a second measurement boundary, DMT’s Search Console generative-AI report guide can help teams label organic-search evidence separately from paid lead records; it is not a source for LSA migration status.
Frequently asked questions
Will my LSA reports appear in Google Ads?
No. Google says previous campaign-level performance metrics will not migrate. Save exports or screenshots before the account redirects. A future download page is described in the Help article, but availability and timing are account-state questions.
Did my Local Services Ads become a normal Performance Max campaign?
No. Google describes a specialised Performance Max campaign with pay-per-lead goals. It keeps Search and Maps placements, valid-lead billing and keywordless targeting; standard Performance Max serves a different model and network mix.
Can I keep separate Target CPA values for each service vertical?
Google says vertical-level Target CPA is deprecated and a unified campaign-level Target CPA is calculated. Its documented way to preserve separate bidding rules is to use separate campaigns for separate verticals.
Do I edit my business address in Google Ads after migration?
No. Google says the core business name, physical address and hours sync from Google Business Profile. Significant changes can trigger a 24–48-hour verification review. Treat that as a preparation risk, not as a guaranteed pause for every edit.
