Google is making one of the biggest changes to Local Services Ads since the program launched.
Beginning in August 2026, Google will start moving Local Services Ads into the Google Ads platform as a specialized Performance Max campaign with pay-per-lead goals.
The good news? Local Services Ads are not going away.
You will still pay for leads rather than clicks, your ads will continue appearing on Google Search and Google Maps, and your existing verification status will transfer with your account.
What is changing is how these campaigns are managed behind the scenes.
In this video, Eric Levine and Crystal Horton break down what Google has announced, what stays the same, what changes, and what businesses and agencies should be doing before their accounts migrate.
Watch the discussion, then read the full breakdown below for the details you need to know before your account transitions.
The Bottom Line on LSA Changes
Local Services Ads are not going away. They are moving into Google Ads.
You will still pay for leads rather than clicks. Your ads will continue appearing on Google Search and Google Maps, and campaigns will remain keywordless.
Google Business Profile will become increasingly important as the source of your business information, while Google Ads becomes the platform where you manage your paid advertising.
For now, keep it simple:
- Review your current LSA account.
- Review your Google Business Profile.
- Save the historical reporting you want to keep.
- Confirm the correct users have account access.
- Watch for Google’s migration email.
The first migrations begin in August 2026.
That is when we will start seeing how Google’s new Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals work in real accounts.
What Is Actually Changing with LSA?
The biggest change is happening behind the scenes.
Once your account migrates, you will manage your Local Services campaign directly inside Google Ads instead of the current LSA dashboard.
Google will automatically transfer your existing campaign settings, including:
- Service areas
- Service types
- Business categories
- Ad schedule
- Budget
- Business photos
You do not need to rebuild your campaign. Google handles the migration.
When Will My Account Migrate?
Google is rolling this out in phases.
- August 2026: The first U.S. home service and storefront advertisers begin migrating.
- Later in 2026: Additional U.S. advertisers will transition.
- 2027: Remaining categories and non-U.S. advertisers will continue migrating.
Businesses within the same industry may migrate at different times.
Google says account administrators should receive an email approximately 14 days before their scheduled migration. Another reminder should follow, along with a notification when migration is complete.
What Should You Review Before Migration?
There is nothing you need to manually migrate, but there are a few things worth checking beforehand.
Your Google Business Profile
Review your:
- Business name
- Address
- Phone number
- Hours
- Primary category
- Website
- Users
Your Google Business Profile will provide core business information to your new campaign.
Do not make unnecessary changes just because migration is coming. Significant changes to your GBP can trigger verification, suspension, or account review.
Your Current LSA Settings
Take note of your current service areas, job types, categories, schedule, photos, budget and bidding strategy.
This gives you a baseline to compare against after migration.
Your Historical Reporting
This one is important.
Your historical leads will transfer into the new Lead Manager, including customer contact information and message history.
Your historical performance reports will not transfer.
There currently isn’t a simple way to download all of your historical LSA reporting. You can download your leads, but monthly performance reports will need to be manually recorded or saved with screenshots before migration.
Budgets and Bidding Are Changing
LSA currently uses weekly budgets. Google Ads uses average daily budgets.
During migration, Google will convert your weekly budget into an average daily budget.
For example:
$700 weekly budget → approximately $100 average daily budget
Google is also removing manual maximum cost-per-lead bidding and changing how some bidding strategies work.
Because of these changes, budget and bidding should be reviewed after migration rather than assuming Google’s automatically converted settings are the best long-term strategy.
What Happens to Verification?
Google says existing verification status will transfer with the account.
Eligible businesses will keep their Google Verified badge, and existing license and insurance verification should not need to be completed again simply because the campaign migrated.
Keep in mind that significant changes to your Google Business Profile can still trigger verification or review.
Is This the Same as a Regular Performance Max Campaign?
No. This is an important distinction.
Traditional Performance Max can advertise across Search, Maps, YouTube, Gmail and the Display Network.
The new Performance Max campaign with pay-per-lead goals will continue running on Google Search and Google Maps.
You will continue paying for qualified leads rather than clicks, and the campaign remains keywordless.
So while LSA is moving into Performance Max infrastructure, it is not becoming the traditional Performance Max campaign advertisers are already familiar with.
Should You Wait to Start LSA?
No.
If Local Services Ads make sense for your business, there is no reason to wait for the migration.
Google will automatically transition existing campaigns when their account is scheduled.
After Your Account Migrates
Once migration is complete, compare the new campaign against your previous settings.
Pay particular attention to your budget, bidding strategy, service areas, categories, lead routing and Google Business Profile connection.
Then monitor performance.
Google says advertisers should allow up to two weeks for the migration to fully complete and performance to stabilize.
The migration is automatic.
The optimization afterward is where the real work begins.