Marketing
Local Services Ads Are Moving to Performance Max: 2026 Migration Checklist
Prepare for Google's 2026–2027 Local Services Ads migration to pay-per-lead Performance Max. Learn what changes, what stays, what to save, and what to verify.
Overview
Google is moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads.
That sentence sounds more dramatic than the actual change.
Local Services Ads are not simply disappearing, and Google is not turning them into ordinary Performance Max campaigns that run across YouTube, Gmail, Display, Discover and every other Google surface.
Instead, existing Local Services Ads accounts are being migrated into a specialized Performance Max campaign type with pay-per-lead goals. The management experience moves into Google Ads, while several core Local Services Ads mechanics remain.
For a service business, the urgent part is not the new name. It is the transition in reporting, bidding, budgets and account management.
Most importantly, Google says your historical Local Services Ads performance reports do not transition into Google Ads.
That makes the period before your migration date the time to preserve a clean baseline.
Quick answer
Google began the phased migration in August 2026.
After migration:
The best preparation is simple: save your old performance baseline before migration, document your current settings, then verify the new campaign after Google moves it.
- you still pay for valid leads rather than ordinary ad clicks;
- ads still focus on Google Search and Google Maps;
- targeting remains keywordless;
- your verified status carries over;
- campaign management moves into Google Ads;
- the old Local Services Ads dashboard is no longer your control room;
- manual bidding is removed;
- vertical-level Target CPA is removed;
- weekly budgets become daily-average budgets;
- historical performance reports do not move into Google Ads;
- past customer lead history does move into the new Leads experience.
What exactly is changing?
Google describes the new campaign as Performance Max with pay-per-lead goals.
The Performance Max label can be confusing because most advertisers know Performance Max as a cross-channel campaign type.
This version is different.
This is not standard cross-channel Performance Max
Google says migrated Local Services campaigns continue to:
That means you should not automatically apply every standard Performance Max tutorial to a migrated Local Services campaign.
The name is similar. The operating model is not identical.
- charge for valid leads rather than ordinary clicks;
- appear on Google Search and Google Maps;
- use service categories, service areas and other local settings instead of keyword lists;
- focus on direct local customer connections such as calls, messages and eligible bookings.
The 2026–2027 migration timeline
Google is moving accounts in phases rather than switching every advertiser on the same day.
Your own account date matters more than a general article date.
Google says the account administrator should receive an advance notice approximately 14 days before migration, followed by another reminder.
Treat that message as the start of a short preservation and QA window.
| Timing | Who Google says is moving |
|---|---|
| August 2026 | Selected U.S. home and storefront service advertisers, including categories such as plumbing, HVAC, electrical, appliance repair, house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control and moving |
| Late 2026 | Broader advertiser groups, including service-area businesses without a storefront and accounts with custom bidding or booking configurations |
| 2027 | Remaining categories and non-U.S. accounts not migrated during 2026 |
What stays the same after migration
A platform move is easier to understand when you separate the stable pieces from the changing pieces.
You still pay per valid lead
The migrated campaign remains based on direct customer leads rather than ordinary cost-per-click billing.
Depending on eligibility and settings, lead types can include:
A charged lead is not automatically a completed job. It is still your responsibility to answer, qualify, schedule and complete the work.
- phone calls;
- messages;
- appointment bookings.
Ads still appear on Search and Maps
Google says the specialized campaign continues to serve on Google Search and Google Maps in the same local ad positions used by Local Services Ads.
This is one of the clearest differences from normal Performance Max.
Targeting remains keywordless
You do not suddenly receive a traditional keyword list to manage.
Google continues to use the services, service areas and other campaign/business information connected to the local advertising setup.
Existing verification carries over
Google says already completed business verification and the Google Verified badge transfer during migration.
Do not assume that means you can freely change every identity field at the same time. Significant business-profile changes can still trigger review.
What changes after migration
The core lead model remains recognizable, but the control room changes substantially.
The important word is management.
Your ads may look familiar to customers while the advertiser workflow behind them changes.
| Before migration | After migration |
|---|---|
| Separate Local Services Ads dashboard | Google Ads |
| Local Services lead inbox | Google Ads Leads page |
| Weekly budget display | Daily-average budget |
| Manual bidding may be available | Manual bidding removed |
| Vertical-level Target CPA may be used | Unified campaign-level Target CPA |
| Historical LSA performance reports | Do not transfer |
| Core identity managed across LSA/GBP workflow | Business name, address and standard hours sync from Google Business Profile |
The most important task: save your historical reporting
Google explicitly warns that previous Local Services Ads performance reports do not carry over to Google Ads.
That is the part of the migration you cannot recreate later from memory.
Google has said a historical download path will be available, but if your migration is approaching, do not build your entire preservation plan around a future interface.
Save the baseline you can access now.
What to capture before migration
At minimum, save a dated record of:
If you track downstream outcomes outside Google, preserve those too:
Those business outcomes are often more useful than an ad dashboard alone.
- total spend;
- charged lead count;
- average cost per lead;
- lead type mix;
- service categories;
- performance by service or vertical where available;
- date ranges used in your report;
- current budget;
- current bidding settings;
- service areas;
- ad schedule;
- business categories;
- business photos used in the campaign;
- callouts or other campaign-specific business details;
- the phone number receiving leads;
- message-lead settings;
- booking settings if you use direct booking.
- booked jobs;
- completed jobs;
- revenue from those jobs;
- cancellation or no-show rate;
- lead-to-booking rate;
- booking-to-completion rate.
Why a baseline matters
Imagine your campaign costs $2,000 in one month and generates 40 charged leads.
Your dashboard says the average cost per charged lead is $50.
But your own records show:
That gives you several different benchmarks:
After migration, a change in Google's reported cost per lead may not tell you whether the underlying business result improved or worsened.
A preserved baseline gives you something real to compare.
- 40 charged leads;
- 24 qualified enquiries;
- 16 bookings;
- 12 completed jobs.
- $50 per charged lead;
- about $83 per qualified enquiry;
- $125 per booking;
- about $167 per completed job.
Lead history and performance history are not the same thing
This distinction is easy to miss.
Google says historical performance reports do not transfer.
Google also says past customer lead history does transfer to the new Leads page in Google Ads.
Those are different datasets.
Your old customer lead records can remain accessible even though the old campaign-level performance reporting view disappears.
So the right preparation is not "export everything because Google deletes all leads."
It is:
- preserve the reporting history Google says will not move;
- verify your customer lead history after migration;
- keep your own client and job records independently of an ad platform.
How the budget changes
Local Services Ads historically use weekly budget language.
Google Ads uses a daily-average budget model.
At migration, Google says the historical average weekly budget is divided by seven.
Example
Suppose your current average weekly budget is:
$700 per week
Google's conversion would produce:
$100 average daily budget
Google says monthly spend is capped at the average daily budget multiplied by 30.4.
In this example:
$100 × 30.4 = $3,040
Daily spend can still move above or below the average on individual days.
The daily number is therefore not a promise that exactly $100 will be spent every day.
What to check
Before migration, record the old weekly budget.
After migration, verify:
Do not increase the budget simply because the number looks smaller when shown per day.
- the new daily-average budget;
- the calculation used;
- the monthly limit you expect;
- whether the amount still fits your cash-flow plan.
Manual bidding is being removed
Google says manual bidding, including maximum cost-per-lead controls, is not supported in the migrated Google Ads experience.
That matters if you currently depend on a hard manual lead-cost ceiling.
Document the old setting before migration so you can understand what changed.
Vertical-level Target CPA is also changing
Some advertisers run multiple service verticals under one campaign with different Target CPA values.
Google says the migrated campaign cannot keep separate vertical-level Target CPA settings in that form.
Instead, it calculates a unified campaign-level Target CPA.
If separate service lines have very different economics, Google points to separate campaigns as the way to maintain separate bidding targets after migration.
Why this matters for a service business
A plumbing emergency and a full HVAC replacement may have radically different:
Blending them into one target can make reporting harder to interpret.
Before migration, note your current economics by service category rather than saving only one account-wide average.
- job values;
- close rates;
- labor requirements;
- acceptable acquisition costs.
Google Business Profile becomes even more important
The migrated setup uses Google Business Profile as a source for core business identity.
Google says business name, physical address and standard business hours synchronize from the Business Profile into Google Ads.
Other elements, such as service areas and ad schedules, can be managed independently in the campaign after migration.
This creates a useful division:
Business identity
Keep foundational public facts accurate in your Google Business Profile:
For broader local-profile setup, see Local SEO for Service Businesses, Google Business Profile Service Area Setup, and Google Business Profile Services.
- real business name;
- correct address where applicable;
- standard hours.
Advertising choices
Review campaign-specific settings in Google Ads after migration:
Do not change your public Business Profile just to solve an ad-targeting problem that can be managed inside the campaign.
- service areas used for ad targeting;
- ad schedule;
- service categories;
- lead-routing phone number;
- messages;
- bidding;
- budget.
What happens on migration day
Google says the transition is automatic.
Your old Local Services Ads dashboard should redirect you to the migrated campaign in Google Ads.
Do not treat that redirect as proof that every setting is correct.
Migration-day checklist
Open the migrated campaign and check:
Confirm the campaign is enabled if you expect to receive leads.
Compare it with the weekly budget you saved.
Confirm what Google applied, especially if you previously used manual bidding or multiple vertical-level targets.
Check the actual campaign targeting.
Make sure important services were not lost or unexpectedly broadened.
Verify the hours when you intend to receive leads.
Call the number yourself if appropriate and confirm the team can answer.
Verify whether messages are active and who monitors them.
If you use direct booking, confirm the booking option and availability behave as expected.
Check the name, address and standard hours being synchronized from Google Business Profile.
Review the migrated assets and remove anything stale.
Find the new Leads page and confirm migrated customer history is present.
- Campaign status
- Daily-average budget
- Bidding target
- Service areas
- Service categories and job types
- Ad schedule
- Phone routing
- Message settings
- Booking settings
- Business identity
- Photos and callouts
- Lead reporting
Where to find leads after migration
Google's new workflow places local leads inside Google Ads.
The current path is:
Goals → Conversions → Leads
The Leads table can show information such as:
Google also allows advertisers to update lead status, for example marking a lead as booked or completed.
That is useful for campaign management.
It should not be your only long-term customer record.
- charged status;
- lead type;
- requested service;
- customer details when available;
- campaign source;
- message conversations;
- call recordings where supported.
Keep a first-party record outside the ad platform
Advertising platforms change.
Dashboards change.
Definitions change.
Historical views disappear.
Your client history should survive those changes.
For every important paid lead, keep enough first-party information to understand the business outcome:
A simple client database structure is covered in Client Database Template for Service Businesses.
If you use OneStudio, bookings stay connected with client records, and the product includes business analytics. That can help keep the owned customer journey separate from a changing advertising dashboard. It does not mean OneStudio automatically imports or manages Local Services Ads leads.
- customer;
- requested service;
- lead date;
- booking date;
- appointment or job;
- status;
- value where appropriate;
- source information you can reliably record.
Give the campaign time before judging the migration
Google says that while many migrated campaigns can begin serving quickly, advertisers should allow up to two weeks for the migration process and performance to stabilize.
That does not mean you should ignore obvious errors for two weeks.
Fix immediately if you find:
But avoid declaring the migration a success or failure based on a tiny first-day sample.
Compare a meaningful post-migration period with the baseline you saved.
- the wrong service area;
- an incorrect budget;
- broken call routing;
- incorrect hours;
- missing critical service categories;
- a booking path that cannot actually accept appointments.
A simple before-and-after measurement sheet
You do not need a sophisticated attribution model to make the migration measurable.
Create a table with rows for the metrics that matter:
Use the same definitions on both sides.
If you change how you define a "qualified lead" halfway through, the comparison becomes mush.
| Metric | Before migration | After migration |
|---|---|---|
| Spend | ||
| Charged leads | ||
| Cost per charged lead | ||
| Calls | ||
| Messages | ||
| Booking leads | ||
| Qualified enquiries | ||
| Booked jobs | ||
| Completed jobs | ||
| Revenue you can reliably attribute |
What not to do during the migration
Do not call this the end of Local Services Ads
The management layer is changing. The local pay-per-lead ad experience continues.
Do not treat it as normal Performance Max
Advice about YouTube assets, Gmail placements or Display expansion does not automatically apply to this specialized campaign type.
Do not wait until after migration to document old performance
Historical performance reports are the one part Google explicitly says will not transfer.
Do not change five major business variables at once
If possible, avoid simultaneously changing:
A migration is already a major system change. Fewer simultaneous variables make troubleshooting easier.
- prices;
- service areas;
- business name;
- ad schedule;
- budget;
- booking process;
- phone routing.
Do not use ad-platform reporting as your only customer history
Keep your own booking and client records so a dashboard redesign cannot erase your operational memory.
48-hour preparation checklist
If your migration notice arrived today, use this order.
First 30 minutes
- confirm the scheduled migration date;
- identify the Google account administrator;
- capture the current weekly budget and bidding method;
- save your most important historical performance views.
Next hour
- export or screenshot service-level performance;
- document service areas;
- document categories and job types;
- document ad schedule;
- document call, message and booking settings.
Same day
- compare Google Business Profile name, address and standard hours with reality;
- note any business-profile issue that could affect identity sync;
- confirm the team knows where leads will appear after migration;
- create a post-migration QA checklist.
Before the migration date
- finish the historical reporting archive;
- record a business outcome baseline;
- avoid unnecessary account-wide changes;
- decide who will perform migration-day verification.
Post-migration checklist
Within the first day:
Within the first two weeks:
- verify budget;
- verify bidding;
- verify service areas;
- verify service categories;
- verify ad schedule;
- verify phone routing;
- verify messages;
- verify booking settings if applicable;
- verify Google Business Profile identity sync;
- confirm the Leads page contains expected history.
- monitor charged leads;
- monitor cost per charged lead;
- monitor lead quality;
- compare calls, messages and bookings with the old mix;
- compare booked and completed work with your preserved baseline;
- investigate structural errors immediately;
- avoid overreacting to normal short-term volatility.
Build a customer record that outlives the ad dashboard
The safest way to approach this migration is not to fear the new interface.
It is to separate what Google owns from what your business owns.
Google owns the advertising platform, campaign UI and reporting definitions.
Your business should own the clearest possible record of:
Save the old LSA baseline before it disappears, verify the migrated campaign carefully, and keep the customer journey in a system you control.
OneStudio combines website tools, online booking, client records and business analytics in one system. Explore OneStudio features.
- who contacted you;
- what they needed;
- whether they booked;
- whether the work happened;
- what the outcome was.
Questions businesses ask
Are Google Local Services Ads ending?
No. Google is moving management into Google Ads and converting existing accounts to a specialized Performance Max campaign with pay-per-lead goals. The pay-per-lead model, Search/Maps focus and keywordless targeting remain.
Is the new campaign the same as normal Performance Max?
No. Google's pay-per-lead Performance Max campaign is a specialized local campaign type. It does not simply become the standard cross-channel Performance Max campaign most advertisers know.
Will my old Local Services Ads reports move to Google Ads?
No. Google says historical campaign performance reports do not transition. Preserve the data you need before your migration date.
Will my old customer leads disappear?
Google says past customer lead history, including older lead details and communication history, transfers to the new Leads page. That is different from historical performance reporting.
When will my account migrate?
Google began with selected U.S. home and storefront advertisers in August 2026, expands to broader U.S. groups later in 2026, and plans remaining categories and non-U.S. accounts for 2027. Your account notice is the authoritative timing signal.
What happens to my weekly budget?
Google converts the historical average weekly budget to a daily-average budget by dividing by seven. It says monthly spend is capped at the daily average multiplied by 30.4.
What if I use direct appointment booking?
Verify the booking configuration after migration. Booking is an eligible lead type for supported businesses, and accounts with booking configurations are part of Google's phased migration. See [[Local Services Ads Booking Leads|/guides/local-services-ads-booking-leads]] for the paid direct-booking path and [[How Online Booking Works for Service Businesses|/guides/how-online-booking-works-for-service-businesses]] for the owned booking journey.