Google is moving Local Services Ads into Performance Max pay-per-lead campaigns

Google began the first phase of migrating Local Services Ads into Google Ads in August 2026. Selected U.S. home and storefront service advertisers — including plumbing, HVAC, electrical, appliance repair, house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control and moving — are being converted into a specialized Performance Max campaign type with pay-per-lead goals. Google says the core local model remains: these campaigns continue to charge for valid leads, remain keywordless and serve on Google Search and Maps. But campaign management moves out of the standalone Local Services Ads dashboard. Historical campaign performance reports do not migrate, weekly budgets are converted to daily averages, manual bidding is removed, and separate vertical-level Target CPA settings are collapsed unless advertisers split categories into separate campaigns. Google says the migration expands to broader U.S. groups later in 2026 and to remaining categories and non-U.S. accounts through 2027. On October 14, Google released Google Ads API v26, adding creation support for the specialized Local Services Performance Max campaigns: set PmaxCampaignSettings.local_services_enabled at campaign creation (immutable afterward) and provide country_code and Google Business Profile listing_id in LocalServicesPmaxCampaignSettings. The API also adds lead-to-campaign linking, coupon lead type and message-lead conversion category. Client libraries and code must be upgraded to v26 for these features.

For local-service businesses and the agencies or software builders managing their acquisition, this is a platform migration with real reporting and control consequences. Losing the old dashboard after migration means historical data needs to be exported before the account moves. The shift from weekly to daily budget framing and the removal of manual and vertical-specific bidding controls can also change how advertisers structure campaigns and compare lead economics across services. Google is preserving the pay-per-lead proposition, but operational ownership is moving into the broader Performance Max/Google Ads system, where automation and campaign structure matter more. The v26 API release resolves an important integration uncertainty: agencies and software vendors can now programmatically create this specialized campaign type and associate leads, though the local_services_enabled setting cannot be changed after creation. Integrations must explicitly support v26 and account eligibility.

Google says the first phase began in August 2026 for selected U.S. home and storefront service advertisers. Account administrators receive advance notices before their individual migration date. Broader service-area and custom-configuration groups are scheduled later in 2026, with remaining categories and non-U.S. accounts moving through 2027.

Google describes the destination as a specialized Performance Max campaign with pay-per-lead goals. Unlike ordinary Performance Max campaigns that are typically CPC-based and can serve across more Google inventory, these migrated local campaigns remain focused on Search and Maps and continue charging for valid leads rather than ordinary clicks.

After migration, advertisers lose access to the old Local Services Ads dashboard and are redirected into Google Ads. Google explicitly says prior campaign-level performance metrics such as impressions, clicks, weekly spend and ad-level reports will not transfer. Advertisers who need comparison history should export or capture that data before migration.

Google converts the historical average weekly budget into a daily average by dividing it by seven. Manual bidding, including maximum cost-per-lead controls, is no longer supported after migration, and vertical-level Target CPA settings are replaced by a campaign-level target. Advertisers that need distinct bidding economics for different services may need separate campaigns.

Google says the transition is designed for minimal downtime but advises allowing up to two weeks for the migration to complete fully and for campaign performance to return to stable levels. That makes the cutover a measurement event: agencies should avoid interpreting short-term post-migration lead-cost changes as a durable trend without accounting for the transition period.

Google's v26 announcement now documents a create path for Local Services Performance Max campaigns. Integrators must set PmaxCampaignSettings.local_services_enabled during creation; it cannot be toggled later. LocalServicesPmaxCampaignSettings requires country_code and Google Business Profile listing_id. The release adds lead-to-campaign linking, coupon lead type and message lead conversion category. This does not undo historical LSA report loss or bring back manual bidding. Upgrade client libraries and review v26 fields before automating new campaign creation.