Local Services Ads are the Google ads that appear above everything else on many searches for a trade: a short row of businesses, each with a star rating, a verification badge and a button to call or message. You pay when a customer contacts you through the ad, not when someone clicks. I set these campaigns up for UK trades and service businesses, take them through Google’s checks, and then run them so the leads you pay for are jobs you actually want.
What Local Services Ads are
A Local Services Ad is a profile rather than an ad you write. Google builds it from your business details, your reviews, the jobs you have said you do and the areas you cover. There are no headlines or keywords to choose; Google matches your profile to searches from your category and job types.
The bigger difference is how you are charged. A normal Google search campaign charges per click, whether or not that person ever gets in touch. Local Services Ads charge per lead: a phone call, a message or a booking request that comes through the ad. Google sets the typical price of a lead by category and area, so the cost of a lead for an emergency locksmith in central London will not match the cost for a domestic cleaner in a market town.
Businesses that pass Google’s screening carry a verification badge on the ad, such as Google Guaranteed. Google has changed its badges over time, so I check which one applies to your category when we set the account up.
Where they are available in the UK
Local Services Ads only run in the categories and areas Google has opened. In the UK they have centred on home trades, but the list changes, and a category can be open in one part of the country and not another.
So the first thing I do is check whether your trade can appear at all, in the postcodes you actually serve. If it cannot, there is no point paying anyone to set up an account, and the better route is usually a well-built search campaign or the free Map listing.
Who this suits, and who it does not
It suits owner-run and small multi-van trade businesses that win most of their work by phone, cover a defined patch, and can answer calls and messages promptly during the hours they advertise. Sole traders can use it too; the owner is the person who goes through the background check. It works best when you already have a steady flow of genuine reviews, because rating and review count weigh heavily in which business Google shows first.
It is a weak fit if your category is not open in your area, if nobody can pick up the phone during working hours, or if your work needs a long explanation before someone buys, such as large renovation projects quoted after a survey. Those businesses usually do better with search ads and a proper landing page, which I cover on the page about Google Ads for trades and home services.
What Local Services Ads management covers
Verification
Google checks the business before the ad goes live. Depending on the category, that can include identity and background checks on the owner and anyone who visits customers’ homes, proof of public liability insurance, and evidence of trade registrations or licences where the work legally needs them. I tell you exactly which documents your category asks for, check them before they are submitted, and chase the process when it stalls, because a rejected document usually means starting that step again. Google’s requirements change, so I work from the list your account shows at the time.
Profile, service area and job types
This is where most wasted money starts. Every job type you tick and every postcode you include is a lead you may pay for. I set the service area to where you can genuinely get to at a sensible cost, list only the jobs you want more of, and write the business description and hours so they match how you work. If you are a service-area business without a public shopfront, the profile needs to agree with how your Business Profile is set up.
Reviews
Your rating and the number of reviews affect how often you appear and where. I put a simple routine in place for asking every finished customer for a review, using Google’s own request link, and help you reply to the ones that come in. I will not set up anything that offers rewards for reviews or only asks happy customers: incentivised reviews break Google’s review policies, undisclosed incentives can fall foul of UK consumer protection law on fake and misleading reviews, and either puts the whole profile at risk.
Budget and bidding
You set a budget, and you can either let Google aim for as many leads as possible within it or set the most you are willing to pay per lead. I start with a budget you could live with if every lead were average quality, watch the real cost per lead for a few weeks, and only then move to a maximum bid, once we know what a lead is worth to you.
Lead handling and charges
Google takes your responsiveness into account, so missed calls and slow replies cost you twice: the lead goes elsewhere and your ad shows less. I set up the lead inbox so the right person is alerted, agree how leads are marked as booked or archived, and review the lead list on a schedule agreed before work starts. Google credits some invalid leads automatically, such as calls for work you do not offer or from outside your area, and the route for raising anything it misses has changed over time; I use whatever process your account offers at the time and keep a record of what was credited.
Working alongside search ads and your Business Profile
Local Services Ads rarely run alone. If you also run search ads, the two can end up chasing the same customer, so I check which searches each one is catching and add negative keywords to the search campaign where it is simply paying twice. The free side matters too: your Map listing and reviews feed the ad, which is why I often work on Google Business Profile optimisation at the same time.
How I set it up and run it
- Eligibility check. I confirm your category and postcodes are open, look at how competitors in your area appear, and tell you whether I think it is worth doing.
- Verification. I prepare the document list with you and see the checks through.
- Profile build. Service area, job types, hours, description and photos, matched to your Business Profile.
- Budget and launch. A starting budget, a lead-handling routine everyone agrees to, and tracking so booked jobs can be counted.
- Lead review. Lead quality, charges to query, responsiveness, and any job types or areas to trim.
- Reporting. At an interval agreed before work starts: what came in, what it cost and what turned into paid work.
Where Local Services Ads usually go wrong
- Every job type ticked, so the business pays for enquiries it turns away.
- A service area drawn as a large radius rather than the postcodes the vans can reach in a morning.
- Hours set to 24 hours a day when calls after six go to voicemail, which hurts responsiveness and wastes money.
- Leads never marked as booked, so nobody knows which ones turned into work.
- No way of linking a call to a finished job, which leaves the real cost of a won job a guess.
- A thin review count that leaves the ad stuck behind competitors, however high the budget.
What you receive
- A plain answer on whether your trade and area are eligible and whether I think the spend is justified.
- A verified, live profile with a service area and job list you have agreed to.
- A written lead-handling routine for whoever answers the phone, plus a review request routine.
- A regular lead check, with invalid charges raised where Google allows it.
- A report on leads, cost per lead, booked jobs and what I am changing next, written for a business owner rather than a marketer.
The account stays in your name and you pay Google directly for leads. My fee is separate from that spend. Each quote is written after a free first call, in GBP, and agreed in writing before work starts.
Next step
Tell me your trade and the postcodes you cover. I will check whether Local Services Ads are open to you, and if they are not, say what I would do instead, whether that is local SEO for the Map results or a search campaign. If you would rather hand the whole Google Ads account over, that is what my monthly PPC management covers. Book a free 30-minute call to start.