Short answer
Google Local Services Ads charge per valid lead, not per click, and Google does not publish a fixed price. Per Google's help pages, the price varies by location, job type, lead type and bidding mode. You control the weekly budget and bidding mode, so work out what a lead must cost for a booked job to be profitable, then budget from that.
If you search for Google local service ads cost, you will find blog posts quoting dollar ranges as if Google had set them. It has not. This guide sticks to what Google's Local Services Ads help pages say, explains what moves the price, and gives you a method to set a budget with your own numbers. We do not quote a price per lead, because we cannot verify one for your trade and town, and an invented number would be worse than none. Rules differ by country and change over time, so check the current rules in your account.
New to the product? Read the Local Services Ads guide first.
Once you have the price per lead from your dashboard, the Local Services Ads cost calculator turns it and your weekly budget into expected leads and cost per booked job.
How you are charged
Google's "How leads work" page says you pay for valid leads and that your bidding mode sets the most you will pay for a lead. You set an average weekly budget. You can spend more than that in a given week, but you never spend more than your monthly maximum. Google's "How to edit your budget" page gives the monthly maximum as your weekly budget times 30.4, divided by 7. When you reach it, your ad stops showing for the rest of the month unless you raise the budget.
Charged leads count toward the budget. You can review charges under the Billing menu in your leads inbox. Google also says Google Ads manages billing for these ads, so a suspension in your Google Ads account also suspends your Local Services Ads.
How payment is collected is set out on "How to pay for Local Services Ads": you set up billing at sign-up, and if you already have a Google Ads account, Local Services Ads reuses its payment settings. You are charged when your balance reaches your payment threshold or 30 days after your last payment, whichever comes first. Google gives an example threshold ladder in that article, and says your own starting threshold depends on your account, country and currency, so look at Billing in your own account.
What you are not charged for
Also from "How leads work", these are not charged:
- Leads judged invalid or low quality at first contact.
- Spam and duplicate contacts that automated systems filter out.
- Calls where the caller hangs up at an automated menu without pressing a key.
- Missed calls that last 20 seconds or less.
- Unanswered calls outside your business hours or active ad schedule.
- Follow-up contact from the same customer within 15 days of a charged lead.
Two practical points follow. Your business hours come from your Google Business Profile, so wrong hours can change what you are charged for. And a charged lead that turns out to be low quality can be credited later. Google says charged leads are assessed for quality over a 30-day period and credits are usually applied to your balance within 30 days, with the original charge still appearing on your invoice.
What moves the price
Google's help pages say price varies by these factors, and give no numbers.
| Factor | What Google says | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Prices vary by location. | Set service areas to where you can profitably work. Do not list towns you cannot reach. |
| Job type | Prices vary by job type. | Turn off job types you do not want. Fewer, better job types can mean fewer wasted leads. |
| Lead type | Message leads are usually priced lower than phone leads, though not always. Price depends on the customer's estimated likelihood to book. | Turn on message leads, which Google also notes help at nights and weekends. |
| Bidding mode and bids | A bid is the most you would pay. Similar local businesses bid on the same lead, and bids set its value. | Use the automated mode Google recommends unless you have a clear reason not to. |
| Profile quality | Google's ranking page says higher-quality profiles may rank higher and may also pay lower cost per lead. | Build reviews, add real photos, answer fast. |
| Competition and budget | The help page on ads not running says ads do not appear for every search because of budget and competition. | Expect cost to change by season and by how many rivals are bidding. |
Competition and season move costs for every trade, but we have no verified figure for how much, so we do not give one.
Set a budget from your job values
Start from the job, not the lead. The method:
- Work out profit per booked job. Use your average gross profit on the jobs you want, not revenue.
- Estimate how many leads become booked jobs. Use your own phone log. If you do not have one, set up call tracking first.
- Divide. The most you can pay per lead and break even is profit per job times your booked rate. Aim well below it.
- Pick leads per week you can handle. Google recommends at least a 10-leads-per-week budget with the Maximize leads mode, so your weekly budget needs to cover about that many leads at the price you see.
- Review after two weeks. Google says results take about two weeks to become accurate while the model learns.
Illustrative only, with round numbers that are not a quote or a typical price: suppose a booked job leaves $600 gross profit, 4 in 10 leads become booked jobs, and a lead costs $100. Ten leads cost $1,000 and produce four jobs, or $2,400 profit before your own time, so the cost per booked job is $250. If you replace those numbers with real ones and the result is above the profit per job, change something. If you cannot do the maths, pause, track, and revisit.
Cost per lead is the wrong finish line
A cheap lead that never books is expensive. A pricey lead on a big job may be your best. Judge on cost per booked job and on revenue per week. Google's reports tell you leads and spend, and you work out cost per lead by dividing spend by charged leads. Booked jobs need your own input. Google's "View reports on Local Services Ads" page says marking a lead as booked, currently in the US and Canada only, lets you add a job type and customer name and then filter by them. Use it. Our plumbing marketing cost guide puts Local Services Ads next to other channels.
Ways to lower your cost without gaming it
- Narrow job types and areas to what you want, since Google no longer gives credits for leads outside your job types or areas.
- Answer quickly and consistently. Responsiveness is a ranking factor.
- Collect reviews in line with Google's review policies. Google suggests aiming for at least five reviews.
- Turn on message leads and, where it fits, booking.
- Add real photos of your team and work.
- Review and give feedback on poor leads through the lead feedback survey.
- Do not game credits. Google's "Local Services Ads requirements" page prohibits circumventing its systems.
Mistakes to avoid
- Believing a blog's dollar range instead of your own account's data.
- Setting a budget below what produces a usable sample, then judging the channel on three leads.
- Leaving the ad on when nobody can answer, then paying for missed leads.
- Forgetting that Google Ads billing controls this ad, so a billing problem there pauses it.
- Comparing against marketplaces on lead price alone. Shared leads and exclusive leads are different products, as set out on our Angi alternative page.
Where LiveLeadsLane fits
LiveLeadsLane manages Local Services Ads as one platform within our paid ads management, which starts at $375 a month for one platform, with ad spend paid directly to Google (see pricing for setup and tiers). We cannot promise a lead price. We will set the budget from your own numbers and report on booked jobs. Book a call if you want a second look at your account.
