Local Services Ads are the listings that sit above everything else on a Google search, above the regular ads and above the map. Each one shows a business name, a star rating, a phone button and, in most categories, a Google Guaranteed or Google Screened badge. On a phone, they take up the first screen almost entirely.
They work differently from ordinary Google Ads in one way that matters: you are charged per lead, not per click. Someone who reads your listing and moves on costs you nothing. Someone who calls, messages or books through the ad is billed as a lead.
Google enables Local Services Ads by category and by location, not by request. On Cape Cod the categories that are open are mostly home services: cleaning, landscaping, roofing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, general contracting, painting, pest control, moving, junk removal and window cleaning.
If your trade is not on Google's list for your area, no amount of setup will make the ads appear. That is the first thing worth checking, and it takes a few minutes.
The badge is not a design element you switch on. Depending on the category, Google asks for a business license, proof of general liability insurance, and background checks on the business and sometimes on the owner. The checks are run by a third party and they take days, not minutes.
Nothing shows up in search until that clears. Most of the delay people experience when starting Google Local Services Ads management is here, not in the ad setup. Keeping your Google Business Profile accurate while verification runs is part of our Local SEO work, and it is what the reviewer checks first.
Google decides which verified businesses to show and in what order. Review count and average rating are a large part of that, along with responsiveness and how close you are to the searcher. Two identical accounts with different ratings do not get the same number of leads.
A lead you do not answer is still a lead you paid for. Answer speed is the cheapest improvement available in this channel.
Some charged leads are not real: a wrong number, someone outside your area, a spam call, a salesperson. Google allows those to be disputed and credited, but only if someone actually reviews the lead log and files them. Left alone, they stay on the bill.
Cost per lead varies by trade and town. A cleaning account on Cape Cod I manage runs around $35 per lead. Roofing and contracting run considerably higher, because one job is worth more. The number to watch is not the cost per lead on its own, it is the cost per lead against the value of a job and the share of leads you close.
Setup with me is $299 one time, and management is $99.90 a month plus 20% of your actual lead spend, which Google bills to you directly. If your category is not eligible, I will say so before you spend anything.
Tell me the trade and the towns you cover. I will tell you what I would do first.