Local Services Ads: the real cost guide

How the billing works

You are charged per lead rather than per click. A lead is typically a call of qualifying length or a message through the ad. The cost per lead varies by trade, market and competition, and Google sets it dynamically.

We are not going to publish a per-lead figure for your trade, because it moves by market and season and a number quoted here would be wrong by the time you read it.

The arithmetic to do before you start

Take your average job value. Multiply by your close rate on inbound enquiries. Multiply by the share of enquiries that are qualified at all.

That is what a lead is worth to you. Compare it to the per-lead cost your account is quoting. If the gap is thin before you have counted your own time on the phone, it is thinner than it looks.

What makes the gap worse than expected

Wrong-area enquiries, price shoppers and out-of-scope jobs all bill the same as a booked replacement. Seasonal spikes raise demand and cost together. And the qualification rate is the variable most contractors have never measured, which means the arithmetic gets done with a guess in the middle of it.

Disputes are part of the model

Google provides a dispute process for leads that are spam, wrong area or out of scope. Most contractors under-use it, and the credits are real money.

Build the habit of disputing in the same week rather than at month end.

Where it fits

LSA buys volume now. Map and local search work and AI visibility compound over quarters. Neither improves the other, and a business that needs work this month is better served by the first.

“Cheaper per contact, sometimes more expensive per booked job.”