Local Services Ads Are Moving Into Google Ads: What Roofers Should Do Now

Google is not shutting down Local Services Ads. It is moving them into Google Ads: Google Ads Help says existing campaigns will be migrated automatically to a specialized Performance Max campaign type built for pay-per-lead goals.

Select US roofing advertisers are included in the first wave, and the migration notice sent to your account determines your timing. A separate billing change took effect on October 1, 2026, according to PPC Land's reporting of Google's advertiser notice: some unanswered business-hours calls can now count as billable leads. This checklist covers what moves on its own, what to save before your migration date, and how to set up your phones so the new billing rule doesn't drain your budget.

Last reviewed: October 22, 2026.

What is changing for roofers, and what is not

Here is the short version, based on Google's migration help page.

For the migration itself, Google says your verified status and Google Verified badge transfer automatically, and you do not need to re-verify your insurance or license. The badge itself changed in 2025; the FAQ below covers that.

Google describes the new campaign as a specialized Performance Max type, not a standard one. We recommend treating it as its own channel. If you also run regular Search or Performance Max campaigns, keep them separate in your reporting so you always know which leads came from which campaign.

When your roofing account migrates and how Google will warn you

Google's migration page lists roofing in Phase 1, which started in August 2026 for select US home and storefront service advertisers. Google's rollout page on Google Ads Help names "Roofer" as a Home Services sub-vertical, alongside related trades such as Siding Pro and Solar Energy Contractor.

The same rollout page says Phase 2, in late 2026, covers service-area businesses without physical storefronts and accounts with custom bidding or booking configurations. Roofing appears in the Phase 1 category list, while businesses without storefronts are also named in Phase 2. Use your account-specific notice, not the category list alone, to determine your timing.

Google says you will get an email 14 days before your scheduled migration date, plus a banner inside your current LSA dashboard. The email goes to the account administrator. That is the weak point to check first:

• Who holds the admin role today? Make sure it is not someone who no longer works with you.
• Is that inbox read every day?
• Does the owner have their own access, separate from any vendor?

Fix any of those now. Fourteen days is enough time to prepare only if someone actually sees the email.

Before migration day: save what Google will not move

Google's migration page is clear that campaign-level performance history will not migrate. Past impressions, clicks, weekly spend and ad-level performance reports stay behind, and the old dashboard closes once you move. Past lead history does transfer. Google also says a dedicated download page for historical performance reports will be available soon.

Before your migration date, save what you can. Download the reports the dashboard lets you export, and take screenshots of the rest. Google itself suggests screenshots if you need reports right away:

• Weekly spend for as far back as the dashboard allows
• Impressions and clicks by week
• Ad-level performance reports
• Any notes you keep on disputed leads or credits

Then write a one-page baseline. Start with four numbers: average weekly spend, leads per week, cost per lead, and lead-to-booked-job conversion rate from your CRM or job board. Add your call answer rate if your phone system tracks it. After migration, that page tells you whether the new campaign is doing better, worse or the same, instead of relying on memory.

If your account has already migrated, watch for the historical-report download page Google says is coming. If you need a baseline now, rebuild it from your CRM, invoices and billing statements. Billing records show what you spent, not impressions, clicks or campaign-level performance, so treat that baseline as a partial view.

Day one in Google Ads: budget, bidding and your Business Profile

On day one, check call routing, budgets, service areas and lead delivery. Google says to allow up to two weeks for the migration to fully complete and for performance to return to stable levels, so separate setup problems you need to fix now from short-term swings.

Check the converted budget

According to Google Ads Help, your historical average weekly budget is divided by 7 to set a daily average budget, and monthly spend is capped at the daily budget times 30.4. A $700 weekly budget becomes $100 a day, with a monthly ceiling of $3,040. Confirm the number matches what you actually want to spend in a month, especially heading into storm season.

Review your bidding before you change it

Google says manual bidding, including a maximum cost per lead, is no longer supported. If you ran different Target CPAs (target cost per acquisition, here the campaign's lead-cost target) for separate verticals in one campaign, Google calculates one unified campaign-level Target CPA and applies it to all of them.

Treat a target as what the system aims for on average, not as a replacement for your old per-lead cap. Review the migrated settings against your lead economics before you change anything.

If roofing and siding or solar truly need different targets, Google says separate rules require separate campaigns. New pay-per-lead campaigns cannot yet be created directly in Google Ads, so plan that structure through Local Services setup at g.co/localservices. Our guide to Google Ads Smart Bidding explains how target-based bidding behaves when you hand it control.

Treat your Business Profile as the source of truth

Google says your business details sync one way from your Google Business Profile. Routine updates such as hours and phone number sync automatically within 24 hours. Significant changes to your business name, storefront address or primary category require verification, and your campaign may pause for 24 to 48 hours while Google reviews them. For a roofer, two days dark after a hailstorm is expensive. Keep your details accurate, and avoid unnecessary major edits during peak demand.

Replace the BBB callout

Google says BBB callouts are no longer supported and points advertisers to the campaign's assets tab to add at least six other structured callouts. Use only claims that are true for your business, such as financing available, emergency tarping or free inspections.

Finally, spend your first session finding where budget, service areas, leads and call recordings sit in the new interface. Write it down for whoever handles leads. If you want a structured review of the rest of the account, our PPC audit checklist works here too.

The October 1 missed-call rule and your phone setup

PPC Land reported that Google's advertiser notice set October 1, 2026 as the date unanswered calls start counting as billable leads. PPC Land also reported that follow-up calls become chargeable when the first call did not qualify as a charged lead.

How the 20-second clock works

Google's Local Services Help spells out the rules:

• Missed calls: a missed call during business hours is a valid lead if the caller stays on the line more than 20 seconds.
• Voicemail and greetings: during business hours, these count as a connected call and are charged after 20 seconds, whether or not the caller leaves a message.
• Press-a-key menus: only the first key press starts or resets the 20-second timer; later key presses in multi-level menus do not reset it again. Callers who hang up without pressing a key are not charged.
• Business hours: these are the hours in your Google Business Profile. If your ad schedule differs, unanswered calls are only charged when they fall inside both your ad schedule and your business hours.
• Repeat contacts: once a lead is charged, follow-ups from the same phone number or email are not charged again, provided there is interaction within 15 days.

What we recommend changing

Voicemail does not stop a charge. Do not add phone-menu steps just to avoid charges; use a menu only when it helps callers reach the right person. When a call is answered, Google says the lead is evaluated based on your conversation with the customer, not the 20-second missed-call rule. Answering does not make valid leads free. Its value is turning them into booked jobs.

The bigger lever is your hours. If your profile says 24/7 for emergency work, a missed 2 a.m. call can be billable when the caller stays on the line more than 20 seconds. Keep your Business Profile hours accurate, because customers rely on them. Instead, use your ad schedule, which you set separately from those hours, to run ads only when someone can reliably answer and handle leads. Google says unanswered calls are only charged when they fall inside both your ad schedule and your business hours. Then close the gap with people: an answering service or a dedicated lead phone that someone carries while your crew is on a roof.

Return missed calls promptly to recover the job. Once a lead has been charged, Google says follow-up calls or messages from the same phone number or email are not charged again, provided there is interaction within 15 days.

Lead credits

Google says it reassesses charged leads over 30 days and automatically credits poor-quality, duplicate or invalid leads, with each lead's billing status shown in a Charge Status column. Review the Charge Status column weekly, retain notes on questionable leads, and submit feedback through the individual lead's survey when appropriate. Feedback does not guarantee a credit, but it gives Google information about unwanted leads and helps you assess campaign quality.

A 10-point checklist for roofers this month

1. Confirm who holds the admin role and that the inbox is monitored daily.
2. Watch for the 14-day email and dashboard banner. Do not assume your phase if you have no storefront.
3. Save available reports and screenshots before migration.
4. Write a one-page baseline: spend, leads, cost per lead, lead-to-booked-job conversion rate.
5. Check the converted daily budget and the monthly cap (daily times 30.4).
6. Review migrated bidding against your lead economics. A target is not a per-lead cap.
7. Keep Business Profile details accurate, and avoid unnecessary major edits during peak demand.
8. Replace the BBB callout with at least six accurate structured callouts.
9. Keep Business Profile hours accurate, and set your ad schedule to the hours someone can reliably handle leads.
10. Review voicemail and phone menu settings, and check Charge Status weekly.

If you want help working through this, our roofing marketing team can support your migration alongside regular Google Ads management. You can book a free strategy call and bring your saved reports.