Paid ads. Reviewed October 29, 2026
Local Services Ads
Also called: LSA, LSAs, Google Local Services Ads
Local Services Ads are the pay-per-lead ads at the very top of Google for home service searches, shown with a Google Verified or Google Screened badge after a background, license and insurance check.
In practice
The business pays for each lead rather than each click, and can dispute leads that were spam, out of area or the wrong service. Rank inside the ad unit is driven by review count and rating, how fast calls are answered, and hours.
For most trades it is the first paid channel to turn on, before Google Ads, because the lead is a phone call from a homeowner who already saw the badge.
Related terms
- Google Verified and Google ScreenedGoogle Verified, formerly Google Guaranteed, is the badge on Local Services Ads for home service businesses that passed Google's background, license and insurance checks, and Google Screened is the equivalent for professional services such as law and real estate.
- Cost per leadCost per lead is total marketing spend on a channel divided by the number of calls, forms or chats it produced, and it is the number to judge a campaign on rather than cost per click.
- PPCPPC, pay per click, is advertising where the business pays only when someone clicks the ad, and Google Ads search campaigns are the main form of it for contractors.
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