Google announces Local Services Ads migration into Google Ads

What changed

Ginny Marvin, posting through Google’s AdsLiaison account, explained how Local Services Ads would move into the Google Ads interface. The described destination is Performance Max with pay-per-lead goals. Her clarification says this specific setup continues to use Search and Maps inventory, job types and service areas, with advertisers paying for leads. It should not be read as a switch to the ordinary cross-channel Performance Max buying model.

The transition also affects reporting access. Ginny’s post warns that historical Local Services Ads reports and the old dashboard will no longer be accessible after an account transitions, and recommends downloading the reports beforehand. This is a concrete preparation task even where campaign settings transfer automatically. Teams handling accounts for several businesses should establish which client records have been saved and who can retrieve them.

The announcement described phased account integrations starting in August, with advance notification for each advertiser. Since that start date has passed, use the account’s own transition notice to determine the next step. If the migration has already happened, inventory the historical exports that exist and check the new campaign against them. If it is still pending, preserve reporting before the account-specific transition rather than relying on the general rollout month.

Why it matters for advertisers

The main operational risk is losing continuity between the old and new reporting views. Save enough context to interpret lead counts and costs, including the date range and the services advertised. After transition, verify the service areas, budget and customer-contact workflow. A local business can then assess whether enquiries are useful without confusing an interface change, a reporting gap and a real change in lead quality.