Google is retiring the standalone Local Services Ads dashboard starting August 2026. Here's what's changing, what stays the same, and the one thing you need to do before your account migrates.
If your business runs Local Services Ads, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, pest control, house cleaning, appliance repair, or a similar home or storefront service, the platform you log into to manage leads is changing. Google confirmed on July 19, 2026 that it's retiring the standalone Local Services Ads dashboard entirely and folding every campaign into the main Google Ads platform as a new, specialized campaign type. The first migration phase began in August 2026 for select US home and storefront service categories, with broader categories and non-US accounts following through 2027.
Every existing Local Services Ads campaign converts into what Google calls a Performance Max campaign with pay-per-lead goals. Despite carrying the Performance Max name, these campaigns keep the core mechanics that have always defined Local Services Ads: ads appear only on Google Search and Google Maps, campaigns remain keywordless and pull targeting information from your Google Business Profile, and you continue paying only for valid leads, calls, messages, or bookings, not for clicks.
What does change is where you manage everything. Budget, targeting settings, and lead responses move into the main Google Ads dashboard, connected directly to your Google Business Profile for automatic syncing rather than living in a separate, siloed tool.
This is the single most important operational fact in the entire migration, and it's easy to miss in the reassuring framing most of the announcement coverage uses. Historical performance data, the cost-per-lead trends, seasonal patterns, and year-over-year benchmarks you've built up in the standalone LSA dashboard, does not automatically carry over to Google Ads. If your business or agency benchmarks performance against prior quarters or prior years, that comparison data needs to be exported before your account's specific migration date, or it's effectively lost.
Google confirmed the rollout is phased, not a single cutover. Phase one, beginning August 2026, covers select US home and storefront service categories: plumbing, HVAC, electrical, appliance repair, house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control, and moving services. Later in 2026, the migration expands to service-area businesses without a physical storefront and accounts using custom bidding or booking setups. Non-US accounts and any remaining categories transition in 2027.
Google notifies account administrators by email 14 days before their specific migration date, with a warning banner inside the LSA dashboard and a follow-up reminder 7 days out. Expect up to two weeks after migration for performance to fully stabilize as the new campaign structure settles in.
Pay-per-lead pricing continues exactly as it has. You're still only charged for valid leads, not impressions or clicks. Google Guaranteed and Google Screened badges carry over unchanged. Ads continue to appear in the same positions on Search and Maps that they do today. This is a platform consolidation, not a change to the underlying advertising model or your qualification status.
Export your full historical performance data from the current LSA dashboard now, don't wait for the 14-day notice, since account-specific migration timing varies and it's better to have the export done early. Review your current budget, targeting settings, and lead response workflows so you know what to verify once the account moves into Google Ads. If you manage multiple service categories with meaningfully different costs per lead, plan for whether you want them split into separate campaigns once migrated, since that affects how much historical conversion data each campaign carries forward to inform Google's bidding.
No. These qualification badges carry forward unchanged through the migration. The transition affects where and how you manage the campaign, not your underlying qualification status.
Export your historical LSA performance data now regardless of your notice status, since that data does not automatically transfer and the export option may become harder to access closer to or after your migration date. Everything else can reasonably wait for Google's 14-day advance notice.
Pricing mechanics stay the same, pay-per-lead, not pay-per-click. However, since the campaign is now integrated with the broader Google Ads platform and bidding system, it's worth monitoring cost-per-lead closely for the first few weeks post-migration to confirm performance has stabilized at expected levels.
This connects directly to our 90-day paid media audit, which covers exactly the kind of tracking and account structure review worth doing around a platform migration like this one. If you want a second set of eyes on your account before or after your migration date, that's exactly what our paid media team helps with.
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