Google Ads and Local Services Ads, run in your own account

What does Google Ads management include?

Everything from the first keyword to the monthly report, done in your account:

• An account in your name. You own it and pay Google directly with your own card. We work in it as a user you invite.
• A search and area plan. The searches that bring paying jobs, the towns you serve, and the searches to block, such as “jobs”, “free” or “how to”.
• Campaigns that fit your trade. Search ads for people ready to call, Local Services Ads where your category qualifies, and Performance Max only where it suits your goal.
• Honest ads. Ad text that matches your page and your real prices and offers, checked by Rhea, our compliance agent, against your industry’s rules. You approve every ad before it runs.
• Tracking before spending. Calls from your ads, calls from your website and form fills, set up as conversions so we judge campaigns by leads, not clicks.
• Regular checks. The searches that triggered your ads, wasted spend and how fast the budget is going.
• A one-page monthly report from Max, our reporting agent: what you spent, the calls and forms it brought, the cost per lead and what we changed.

How much does Google Ads management cost?

There are two separate costs. Your ad spend goes from your card straight to Google, on your own account. Our management fee is flat and agreed before we start. It isn’t a percentage of your ad spend, and it isn’t a fee per lead.

We don’t publish prices yet. We quote after the free snapshot, when we know your trade, your area and what your accounts need. It’s month to month, with 30 days’ notice to cancel, and there’s no setup fee. Law firms pay a flat fee only, never per lead or per case.

How much should I spend on Google Ads?

You decide, and you can change it any time. Google Ads works from an average daily budget. Google says a campaign may spend up to twice that on a busy day, but over a month you won’t be charged more than 30.4 times the daily amount.

What it takes depends on your trade, your area and how many competitors bid on the same searches. For most local businesses we suggest starting at $1,000 a month in ad spend, paid by you directly to Google. Local Services Ads charge per lead, so they can start lower; we’ll suggest a weekly budget from your trade and area.

What’s the difference between Local Services Ads and Google Ads?

Local Services Ads charge per lead and can carry a Google Verified badge. Regular Google Ads charge per click and send people to your website or straight to a call. In August 2026, Google began moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads as Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals, starting with select US home and storefront service businesses. More groups follow in late 2026 and 2027. You still pay for valid leads, such as calls and messages, not clicks.

If you qualify, you can run both: Local Services Ads for pay-per-lead calls, and Search ads for services or towns that Local Services doesn’t cover.

Is my business eligible for Local Services Ads?

It depends on your category and your area. Google offers them only for certain service categories, and its eligibility check on the Local Services site tells you whether yours qualifies.

When we checked Google’s US list on 17 October 2026, it included categories for:

• lawyers, including personal injury, family, criminal and DUI
• HVAC, plumbers and electricians
• roofers and water damage services
• dentists
• auto repair shops and auto body shops
• veterinarians
• pest control, lawn care and landscaping
• moving services
• kitchen and bathroom remodeling, and general contractors
• real estate services

Med spas have no category of their own. Google also says the Google Verified badge is currently unavailable in some categories, such as auto and beauty, even where the ads run.

To earn the badge, Google screens the business. The checks vary by category and location and can include background, business registration, insurance and license checks. Each lawyer at a firm needs a state bar license check, and dentists can need state license and NPI checks. Google treats HVAC, plumbing and electrical as urgent categories, with an extra level of screening that includes background checks on service professionals.

Who owns my Google Ads account?

You do. Google requires agencies to use a separate ad account for each advertiser they manage. Ours is set up so the account is yours: created under your Google login, billed to your card, with us invited as a user. You can see everything in it, and an admin on your side can remove our access at any time. If you leave, the account, its history and its conversion tracking stay with you.

Should I run Google Ads or do SEO first?

Ads, if you need calls this month. SEO and your Maps profile, either way. Ads stop the day you stop paying. SEO and local SEO take longer to show, but keep working after the spend stops. Running both lets ads bring calls while the unpaid work builds.

How do you measure Google Ads?

By qualified leads and what they cost, not clicks or impressions.

• Calls from your ads and from your website.
• Forms and booking requests.
• Local Services leads: the calls and messages Google charged you for.
• Cost per qualified lead, using the definition we agree with you at the start.
• Booked jobs or signed cases, if you share them with us. That’s the number that tells you whether ads pay.

Google’s own policy for agencies asks for honesty about costs and expected results. So we tell you what we expect, and why, and we never promise a lead count, a cost per lead or a return on ad spend.

Which ad rules apply to my industry?

Google’s ad policies apply to everyone. A few industries have extra rules, and Rhea checks them before any ad runs.

• Law firms: your state’s attorney-advertising rules apply to ads as they do to your website. ABA Model Rule 7.1 bars false or misleading communications, and states add their own labels and disclaimers. A lawyer at your firm signs off each ad. See our law firm page.
• Dental practices and med spas: Google restricts prescription drug terms in ads, keywords and landing pages. It also treats personal health topics, including treatments and cosmetic procedures such as injections, as sensitive: ads on those topics can’t use advertiser-built audiences such as remarketing lists. See our dental and med spa pages.
• Real estate agents: in the US, housing ads can’t target by gender, age, parental status, marital status or ZIP code, and Fair Housing rules apply to the ad text. See our real estate page.
• Home services: Local Services screening for HVAC, plumbing and electrical includes background checks on service professionals, and for roofing it can include license and insurance checks.
• Hiring ads, in any industry: employment ads have the same targeting limits as housing ads.

Frequently asked questions