What Google says is changing
Google is folding Local Services Ads into Google Ads. Its help page for the move, read on October 8, 2026, says existing campaigns will be migrated automatically to a Performance Max campaign type built for pay-per-lead goals, and that the ads keep showing on Google Search and Google Maps as before.[1]
The move runs in phases, and the first one names the trades this site is written for:
August 2026: The first phase of the migration begins for select home and storefront service advertisers in the United States (including plumbing, HVAC, electrical, appliance repair, house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control, and moving).
Google dates the next phase "Late 2026" and says it takes in "service-area businesses without physical storefronts and accounts with custom bidding or booking configurations." If your business works from a yard rather than a storefront, that later phase may be the one for you. Google also says the account administrator gets an email 14 days before the migration date, with banners in the old dashboard.[1]
A rollout still under way
Google's page is changing as the move runs. This post quotes it as it read on October 8, 2026. Read it again before you act on any date here, and go by your own account's emails where the two differ.
What does not carry over
Your Local Services Ads performance reports will not transition to Google Ads.
The FAQ on the same page says what that covers: "Your previous campaign-level performance metrics (such as past impressions, clicks, weekly spend, and ad-level performance reports) will not migrate to Google Ads." Once your account has moved, the old dashboard sends you to Google Ads instead, and Google says the previous reports will no longer be accessible.[1]
Google's advice is to save your performance data before your account migrates. It says a page for downloading the historical reports will be available "soon", and suggests screenshots if you need the reports sooner than that.[1]
Of everything on that list, past weekly spend is the line to save. It is the money that cost per lead and cost per booked job both divide, and a screenshot is a poor place to do sums from.
What moves with you, and what stays the same
Your leads do move. To the question "Will my past customer leads carry over?" Google answers "Yes", and says your past lead history, including customer contact details, message history and older call recordings, will "automatically transfer to Google Ads and remain fully accessible within the new Leads page."[1]
Google says that page keeps the "charged" status and lead type you are used to, and lets you download your leads to import into your own CRM.[1]
How you pay does not change either:
Pay-per-lead model: You still only pay for valid leads (such as phone calls and messages) rather than ad clicks.
Local Services Help describes the charge the same way: "You're charged for each valid lead you receive through your Local Services ad." A valid lead is not a booked job. Google's list of valid leads includes a call you missed during business hours when the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds.[2]
Google's page on ad rankings adds that "Missed calls may negatively affect your responsiveness."[3] Missed calls on Local Services Ads: what Google says covers what that means for whoever answers your phone.
Keep the history in your own records
Google will hold your leads, and it says the spend history will not move. Which of those leads became work on your schedule is something your own records answer. Keep two files, and add to them every month rather than the week before your account moves.
| File | Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Leads | Source | Ties each lead to the channel that paid for it. In Revvy's leads import, Local Services Ads is the source GOOGLE_LSA. |
| Leads | Date it came in | Lets you leave out leads too new to have booked yet. |
| Leads | Booked date or booked status | The difference between a lead and a job. |
| Leads | The leads that did not book | Without them, the booking rate reads 100% and tells you nothing. |
| Spend | Amount, first day and last day | Spend by period: the history Google says will not carry over. |
| Spend | Source, named as on your leads | So the spend can be set against the leads it bought. |
Why a lead count is not enough
Google says the new dashboard reports "Conversions", the leads you were charged for, and "Cost / conv.", your average cost per lead.[1]
Cost per lead tells you what a channel sends. Cost per booked job tells you what it books: the same spend divided by the leads that became booked jobs. Two channels with the same cost per lead can sit far apart on cost per booked job when one books most of its leads and the other books few.
spend ÷ leads from that channel that became booked jobsCost per lead vs cost per booked job works it through channel by channel, including what to do with a channel that booked nothing.
Getting the files out
We have not researched the menus inside Google's tools, so this post gives no steps for them. Start with Google's help page for the move and with your own account, and save what you can before your migration date. If your leads also live in your field-service software, export them from there too, with their booked status.
The Records Checklist goes through the fields to keep in each of the six exports a trades business already has, and turns the gaps into a list you can work through.
What Revvy does with the two files
Revvy does not connect to Google and holds no ad-platform data. It reads the leads and marketing spend files you import; CSV import works today. Its Breakdowns screen then shows, for each lead source, the leads, the bookings, the booking rate, the spend, the cost per lead and the cost per booked job.
The demo has that screen for a demo business: the Breakdowns screen in the demo. It runs on demo data and anyone can see what is entered there, so keep real records out of it.
If you sell or buy a business
A buyer will want to know how much of a business's work comes from one source. If most of its leads come from Local Services Ads, the move into Google Ads is a live question for that deal. The seller's own lead and spend files answer it, and they do not depend on reports Google says will not carry over.
Question 9 of the Upside Diligence Checklist asks it directly: what share of leads comes from the top source? Revvy's acquisition view shows that share for each business as lead-source concentration: see the acquisition view in the demo. Upside in a deal memo covers the other eleven questions.
If you are the seller, the same two files let you answer that question before a buyer asks it. The other worksheets for owners and buyers are on the Resources page.
Questions people ask
When does the move start?
Google's page dates the first phase like this: "August 2026: The first phase of the migration begins for select home and storefront service advertisers in the United States (including plumbing, HVAC, electrical, appliance repair, house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control, and moving)." The rollout is still running, so check the page and your account's emails for your own date.[1]
Will my reports move over?
No. Google says: "Your Local Services Ads performance reports will not transition to Google Ads." Its FAQ lists past weekly spend among the figures that will not migrate. Your past leads do move, to the new Leads page in Google Ads.[1]
Do I still pay per lead?
What should I keep?
Two files. Leads, one row each, with the source, the date the lead came in, and the date it was booked or a blank if it never was. Spend, one row per channel per period, with the amount, the first and last day it covers, and a source named the same way as on your leads. Those are the fields Revvy's leads and marketing spend imports read.
Sources
- Google Ads Help. Local Services Ads transition to Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals (opens in a new tab). No date shown on the page; its timeline names August 2026, late 2026 and 2027.A live rollout that is still changing; this page was read on October 8, 2026.
- Google, Local Services Help. How leads work (opens in a new tab). No date shown on the page; read October 8, 2026.Platform documentation that may change while Local Services Ads move into Google Ads. The second sentence is listed on the page as a scenario that generates a valid lead; lead credits and exceptions are described on the same page.
- Google, Local Services Help. About ad rankings (opens in a new tab). No date shown on the page; read October 8, 2026.Platform documentation that may change while Local Services Ads move into Google Ads.