Short answer
Review your Local Services Ads dashboard weekly: charged leads by type, spend, credits, missed calls, booked jobs and reviews. Listen to recordings where Google provides them. If a charged lead looks wrong, use the lead feedback or dispute option in your account. Google decides credits, rules differ by country and trade, and the dashboard itself is changing as Google moves these ads into Google Ads.
Most owners open the Google LSA dashboard to answer the phone and never look at the reports. That is how a budget drifts, missed calls go unnoticed and bad leads are paid for. This guide explains what to review, how call recordings fit, and how credits and disputes work in general terms, using Google's Local Services Ads help pages. Screens and policies change, so treat the steps as a guide and check the current rules for your country and trade.
New to the product? Start with the Local Services Ads guide.
Two versions of the dashboard right now
Google's Google Ads Help page "Local Services Ads transition to Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals" says Local Services Ads are moving into Google Ads in phases, with select US home service advertisers first. After migration, it says, the original Local Services Ads dashboard becomes inaccessible and redirects to Google Ads, and leads are managed on a Leads page under Goals, then Conversions. That page includes lead type, charged status, a feedback form, message replies and export for a CRM. It also says historical performance reports do not migrate, and recommends taking screenshots before migrating.
So first find out which one you have. If you still have the Local Services inbox, export or screenshot your reports now. If you are in Google Ads, look for the Leads page. The metrics below apply to both, though the names may differ.
Where things live in the classic inbox
From Google's help pages, the menu in the lead inbox includes:
- Leads, with active and inactive inboxes. Google says a lead stays active when there has been a call or message within the past 15 days.
- Reports, per "View reports on Local Services Ads".
- Profile and budget, where you set the budget and bidding mode.
- Billing, where you see charges and your balance.
- Business Verification, where you manage license and insurance documents.
- Policy Manager, for status, disapprovals and suspensions.
Metrics worth reviewing every week
| What to check | Where it comes from | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Charged leads, split by call, message and booking | Reports, per Google | Shows which lead types you pay for and which you rarely get |
| Total lead spend, and the amount charged | Reports | Compare with your weekly budget and monthly maximum |
| Lead credits received | Reports | Shows what Google has refunded |
| Charge status on each lead | Leads page: Charged, Not charged, In review, Credited | Helps you spot leads to review |
| Cost per charged lead | You calculate: spend divided by charged leads | Google's reports page does not list cost per lead as a metric |
| Booked jobs and revenue | Mark leads as booked (US and Canada), plus your own system | The number that tells you if the channel pays |
| Missed calls and reply times | Your phone records and lead replies | Responsiveness is a ranking factor, per Google |
| Direct business search leads | Filter by search intent, per Google | Separates people looking for you by name from category searches |
| Rating and number of reviews | Reviews are managed in Google Business Profile, per Google | Both feed ranking |
Google's reports page does not mention missed calls, impressions or a booked-jobs count as report fields, so build your own sheet for those. Record, per week: spend, charged leads, jobs booked, revenue, missed calls and how many leads were obviously wrong. That sheet is more useful than any screenshot. Call tracking for contractors shows how to match calls to jobs.
Call recordings in general terms
Google's "Manage leads and jobs" page says calls come through a dynamic Google forwarding number, callers hear "Call from Google", and in the US and Canada Google records inbound calls from that number and tells callers beforehand. The same page says you can listen to phone lead recordings from the desktop inbox in the US, and that recordings are not available for health care verticals or tax specialists. Google's "How leads work" page adds that they are unavailable for all verticals in Europe. Whether you can listen in Canada, or after migration, can differ, so check your own account.
How to use recordings:
- Listen to a few calls every week, especially ones marked spam or charged but not booked.
- Note the reason a lead failed: wrong service, outside your area, job seeker, supplier, price shopper, or a call you missed.
- Review how your team answers. A good lead lost to a rushed answer is a training issue, not a Google issue.
- Use recordings only as Google intends, and handle them under your own privacy obligations. Ask a lawyer if you are unsure what rules apply to storing or sharing recordings where you operate.
Bad leads: not charged, credited, or disputed
Google handles poor leads in three ways, from its "How leads work" and "About Automated Local Services Ads lead credits" pages:
- Not charged at the start. Spam, duplicates, hang-ups at an automated menu, missed calls of 20 seconds or less and calls outside your hours are not charged.
- Automatic credits. Charged leads are reassessed over time, and if found to be low quality a credit may be issued automatically. Google says credits are usually applied to your balance within 30 days, and the original charge still appears on your invoice.
- Your feedback. You can report a poor lead with the Lead Feedback Survey, via Leads and then "Rate this lead". Google says submitting it can earn a bonus credit and that it may occasionally credit reported leads.
On disputes, Google's Local Services Help says you can dispute a lead if you believe it is not valid, a successful dispute is credited back, and this applies to the US and Canada and not to health care verticals. The pages we could access do not spell out the full steps or the deadlines, so use the dispute link or the "How to dispute charges" article in your billing area. One Google help path refers to a 30-day window for a job-seeker call, so do not wait weeks. Automatic credits are likewise not offered to health care verticals, tax specialists or advertisers in EMEA.
Two limits to know. First, Google says it no longer gives credits for "job type not serviced" or "geo not serviced" leads, so fix your job types and service areas at the source rather than disputing every one. Second, do not try to claim credits for valid leads. Google's "Local Services Ads requirements" page prohibits circumventing its systems. We cannot tell you what Google will decide on a given lead, and we will not promise you a refund rate.
A short weekly routine
- Export or screenshot last week's leads, spend and credits.
- Update your sheet: spend, charged leads, booked jobs, missed calls.
- Filter for charged leads with no booking and listen to the recordings.
- Send feedback or disputes for clearly invalid leads while the details are fresh.
- Check settings: business hours, ad schedule, job types, service areas. Google's help page on ads not running lists a paused ad, a schedule outside intended hours, restrictive targeting and a reached monthly budget among causes.
- Check reviews and ask recent customers for honest ones, within Google's rules.
- Check Policy Manager for any alert.
For anything else, Google's "Contact Local Services Ads support" page lists the support routes by region and says that team can only help with Local Services Ads, while Google Ads and Business Profile questions go to their own help centers. It lists a form for live accounts with the badge in North America. Before you contact support, have the lead date, the lead type and your reason ready. Keep a note of what you were told.
Mistakes to avoid
- Never opening Reports, then wondering where the budget went.
- Judging by lead count instead of booked jobs.
- Disputing leads caused by your own job type or area settings.
- Ignoring missed calls, which hurt ranking and cost you leads.
- Waiting until migration, then finding history gone.
- Letting an agency be the only person with account access.
Where LiveLeadsLane fits
LiveLeadsLane reviews Local Services leads as part of Local Services Ads management, flags invalid ones for feedback, and matches leads to booked jobs. Management starts at $375 a month for one platform with ad spend paid directly to Google (see pricing). We cannot promise credits, because Google decides. To have someone check your setup, book a call.
