When a refrigerator dies in Sherman Oaks at 7 pm, the owner types "refrigerator repair near me", taps the first listing that promises same-day service, and calls. The whole sale takes ninety seconds. Two Google products compete for that call, and they work in very different ways.
The two products in one table
| Local Services Ads (LSA) | Google Search Ads | |
|---|---|---|
| Where they show | The very top, above the ads and the map, with the Google Verified badge | Below LSA, text ads on the results page |
| What you pay for | A lead: a call or message from a customer in your area, for your services | A click, whether or not the visitor calls |
| Requirements | Business verification for the Google Verified badge | An account and a landing page |
| Control over the message | Very little: name, rating, hours, services, photos | Full: headlines, offers, brands, landing page |
| Ranking | Responsiveness, reviews, hours, proximity, your budget and target cost per lead | Bid, ad quality, landing page quality |
| Bad leads | Spam and duplicate leads are credited automatically; the lead list shows each one's charge status | You pay for the click regardless |
| Management | Inside Google Ads since 2026, as a Performance Max campaign with pay-per-lead goals | Campaigns, keywords, negatives, bids, weekly hygiene |
What changed in 2026: Local Services Ads moved into Google Ads
Local Services Ads no longer have their own dashboard. Google is moving every account into Google Ads as a Performance Max campaign with pay-per-lead goals:
- August 2026: the first US home service categories, including plumbing, HVAC, electrical and appliance repair.
- Late 2026: more advertisers, including service-area businesses without a storefront.
- 2027: accounts outside the US and the remaining categories.
What stays the same: you still pay only for valid leads (calls, messages, bookings), the ads show in the same places on Search and Maps, and there are still no keywords.
What changes:
- Old reports don't move. On migration day the LSA dashboard closes for your account and its history is not carried over. Download or screenshot it before.
- No manual bids. The maximum lead price is gone: you set a budget and one target cost per lead for the campaign.
- Daily budgets. Your weekly budget is divided by 7.
- Leads live in Google Ads, under Goals → Conversions → Leads, with the charge status of each one. Spam and duplicates are credited automatically.
- The badge is now "Google Verified".
Google e-mails the account administrator 14 days before the move. The full list of changes is in Google Ads Help.
What the results page looks like on a phone
Where Local Services Ads win
"Near me" emergencies. Dishwasher leaking, no cooling, no heat. The homeowner does not read ads; they call the top Verified listing that is open now. For appliance repair and HVAC service calls, LSA usually delivers the cheapest valid lead, because you pay only when someone actually calls.
Trust. The Google Verified badge, the review count and the "Open now" line do the selling. A five-star profile with 200 reviews beats any headline you could write.
Low risk. No landing page to build, no keywords to research. The setup is mostly verification: business checks for the Google Verified badge, which can take a while.
The limits: you do not control which searches show your listing, you compete on responsiveness (answer the phone in seconds or the lead goes to the next company), and you cannot say anything specific about your business beyond the profile fields.
Where Google Search Ads win
Brand-specific and high-value searches. "Sub-Zero repair Los Angeles", "Wolf range service", "Viking refrigerator not cooling". A luxury appliance owner is searching for a specialist, not for the nearest van. LSA cannot target those words; a Search campaign can, with a landing page that lists the brands, the certifications and the same-day promise. I built exactly that page for a luxury appliance and HVAC repair company in Los Angeles, around the "my Sub-Zero stopped cooling" moment and a tap-to-call button above the fold.
Commercial and installation work. HVAC replacement, mini-split installation, commercial refrigeration: longer decisions, bigger tickets, more research. Search ads can speak to each stage; LSA cannot.
Areas and hours where LSA does not fire. Coverage varies by zip code and category; Search fills the gaps.
Remarketing. A visitor who read your page and left can be reached again. LSA has no equivalent.
The limits: you pay for every click, including the ones from people looking for a manual, a part or a job, unless you exclude them; and the landing page has to be fast and built to call, or the click is wasted. Most home service sites in Los Angeles are not.
How to run both without burning money
- Start with LSA. Get verified, set the service area to where your techs actually go, set a daily budget and a target cost per lead you are comfortable with, and answer every call. Check the lead list every week: spam and duplicates should show as credited, and the rest tells you which categories and areas bring real jobs.
- Add Search for what LSA cannot do. Brand campaigns (each brand its own ad group and landing section), installation and replacement campaigns, and a small "near me" campaign as a backup for hours or zip codes where LSA does not show.
- Track calls separately. Local Services leads come with their details on the Leads page in Google Ads. Search calls need a call tracking number on the landing page, so the weekly report says which keyword, not just "phone".
- Do search-term hygiene every week. On a repair account, the first month's search terms are full of "manual", "parts", "warranty", "recall", "salary", "DIY" and every brand you do not service. Each becomes a negative keyword. On the accounts I manage this weekly pass is what moves the cost per click down month after month; on one account the Microsoft Ads cost per click dropped from $5.21 to $1.79 in four weeks with no change in budget.
- Match the landing page to the call. Phone number as a button above the fold, brands and services listed, a same-day or next-day promise, service area, reviews, and nothing that slows the page down. No autoplaying video of the van.
- Report one number to yourself every month: cost per booked job, by channel. Not clicks, not impressions. If LSA books jobs at half the cost of Search, move budget. If Search brings the Sub-Zero jobs LSA never sees, keep it even if the cost per lead is higher.
A note on budgets
Most Los Angeles repair and HVAC companies I talk to start with $1,500 to $3,000 a month across both products, paid directly to Google, and the split settles within two months once the cost per booked job is visible. The budget is not the hard part; the tracking and the weekly hygiene are, and that is where most accounts leak.
If you already run either product and are not sure what it produces, send me the account and the site: the free audit includes a search-term review and a landing page check, in writing, within 24 hours.
Free 24-hour marketing audit: a personalized written report and a prioritized 90-day action plan for your business. No obligation, no sales call.