Moving a Local Services Ads campaign into Google Ads is only half the migration. The other half is proving that each new call, message, or booking lead still reaches the person expected to respond.
A campaign can be active, spending, and generating leads while the operational handoff is broken. The former LSA inbox owner may not know where Lead Manager lives. A call-routing number may have changed. Notifications may reach an agency login instead of the office. After-hours leads may receive no acknowledgment because the old routine disappeared with the old dashboard.
Use this checklist to protect lead-response continuity before, during, and after the move. Exporting reports and recording settings matter, but the migration is not complete until ownership, routing, notifications, replies, and monitoring have been tested.
Local Services Ads Migration: What Google Has Confirmed
Google says Local Services Ads are moving into Google Ads as a specialized Performance Max campaign type with pay-per-lead goals. The ads will continue to appear on Google Search and Maps, remain keywordless, and use the pay-per-lead model for valid leads. Campaign management and customer-inquiry handling move from the separate LSA dashboard into Google Ads.
Google's current official migration documentation also says:
- previous campaign performance reports will not carry over;
- past customer lead history, including contact details, message history, and older call recordings, will transfer to Lead Manager;
- the old LSA dashboard becomes inaccessible after migration and redirects to Google Ads;
- service areas, service types, categories, budget limits, ad schedules, and photos transfer automatically;
- weekly budgets convert to daily averages by dividing by seven;
- the monthly spending limit is the daily average multiplied by 30.4;
- manual bidding and vertical-level Target CPA are deprecated; and
- Lead Manager is under Goals → Conversions → Leads.
Google describes this campaign type as different from standard Performance Max. It serves on Search and Maps, not across all standard PMax inventory, and standard PMax headlines, videos, and sitelinks do not apply.
The rollout is phased
Google says the first phase begins in August 2026 for select U.S. home and storefront service advertisers, including plumbing, HVAC, electrical, appliance repair, house cleaning, lawn care, roofing, pest control, and moving. Broader U.S. groups follow later in 2026, while non-U.S. accounts and remaining categories transition in 2027.
That is an announced rollout, not proof that a specific account has migrated. Google says the listed account administrator receives an email 14 days before the scheduled date, a final reminder seven days later, and a completion email after migration.
Three labels to keep straight
Confirmed platform behavior: The statements above come from Google's migration documentation.
Announced but account-specific timing: The rollout phase does not replace the notice sent for an individual account.
Operational safeguards: The ownership maps, handoff tests, escalation rules, and monitoring steps below are recommendations for protecting response coverage. They are not Google requirements.
Start With a Lead-Path Inventory
Before touching budgets or bidding, document how a lead reaches a human today. Do this separately for calls, messages, and bookings because they may not follow the same path.
For each lead type, record:
- where the customer action appears;
- which phone number, inbox, or account receives it;
- who is notified first;
- who owns the first response;
- who covers breaks and after-hours periods;
- what happens when the primary person does not respond;
- where the outcome is recorded; and
- which downstream tool, if any, receives the lead.
Use names, not departments. “Office” is not a lead owner. “Maya during business hours; Dev after 5 p.m.; agency escalates after 15 minutes without assignment” is an operating rule.
This inventory exposes the migration's real risk: not that the campaign vanishes, but that everyone assumes someone else is watching the new destination.
Before Migration: Protect History and Ownership
Confirm the account administrator
Find the administrator listed on the LSA profile and verify the email is active and monitored. Google sends the migration notices to this person. If an agency owns the login, decide who at the service business also needs the date, checklist, and completion confirmation.
Record who has sufficient Google Ads access to:
- open the migrated campaign;
- review settings;
- reach Lead Manager;
- reply to message leads;
- change call and message routing numbers;
- pause the campaign if the handoff fails; and
- download lead data.
Do not wait until migration day to discover that the person responsible for callbacks cannot open the lead table.
Export historical performance reports
Google says previous campaign-level performance metrics will not transfer and will become inaccessible with the old dashboard. Export the reports your team actually uses before the scheduled migration.
At minimum, preserve enough context to compare the post-migration period with the old account:
- date range and reporting timezone;
- spend;
- charged leads and lead types;
- average cost per lead;
- service categories or verticals;
- service areas;
- disputes or lead feedback used operationally; and
- any internal notes needed to understand anomalies.
Name the export with the account and date range. Store it somewhere controlled that both the advertiser and authorized agency staff can retrieve. An unlabeled CSV on one employee's laptop is not a continuity plan.
Capture settings as a verification record
Record—not just remember—the current:
- weekly budget;
- bidding configuration and any vertical-level targets;
- service categories;
- service areas;
- ad schedule;
- business photos;
- business phone number;
- call and message routing numbers;
- Google Business Profile name, address, and standard hours; and
- active message or booking options.
Screenshots help, but a compact settings sheet is easier to compare. Include who captured each item and when.
Google says the setup transfers automatically. The purpose of this record is not to perform the migration manually; it is to verify the result and catch exceptions.
Decide how mixed service categories will be reviewed
A company advertising plumbing and HVAC may have used different vertical-level Target CPA values. Google says a unified campaign-level Target CPA will be calculated when several verticals sit in one campaign because vertical-level Target CPA is not supported after migration.
Google notes that separate campaigns can maintain different bidding rules. That is not a universal instruction to split campaigns. Have the account owner or qualified manager review service economics and structure after migration rather than making an automatic change on the day of transition.
Freeze the response workflow on paper
Write a one-page runbook that staff can follow even if they have never used the new interface:
- where to find new leads;
- how to identify call, message, and booking lead types;
- who claims each lead;
- how to record first response and outcome;
- when to escalate an unassigned lead;
- who handles after-hours coverage;
- when to pause the campaign because delivery or routing is unverified; and
- who can declare the migration operationally complete.
Brief staff before the migration date. Interface training after leads begin arriving creates an avoidable gap.
Build a Handoff Test Plan Before Migration Day
A good test checks the whole path, not just whether a row appears in Google Ads.
Create a test sheet with these checkpoints:
- Lead becomes visible in Lead Manager.
- Lead type and timestamp are correct.
- The intended phone or message destination receives it.
- The primary owner receives the expected notification.
- The backup can find and claim the lead.
- The owner can call or reply using the approved process.
- Any connected CRM or follow-up system receives the record through its verified path.
- A customer response causes a person to take over and stops incompatible no-reply follow-up.
- First response and final outcome can be recorded.
- An unassigned lead triggers the agreed escalation.
Do not click your own ad or manufacture a chargeable LSA lead merely to test. For Google-side delivery, verify the next legitimate lead carefully or use any test method Google explicitly provides for the account. Downstream forms, webhooks, notifications, and reply-stop logic can often be tested internally without creating a Local Services Ads charge.
The person performing the test should not be the only person receiving the alert. Ask the actual callback owner to complete the handoff.
Migration Day: Verify Delivery Before Optimizing
Google says the old dashboard will redirect to the migrated campaign after the move. On transition day, assign one migration lead and one operations lead. The migration lead compares settings; the operations lead watches real lead delivery and staff response.
Locate the campaign and Lead Manager
Confirm the campaign is labeled for pay-per-lead goals. Then open Goals → Conversions → Leads and verify the expected lead history is visible.
Ask the people responsible for responding to find Lead Manager themselves. A screen-share from an agency does not prove the office can work a lead after the call ends.
Compare the transferred settings
Check the migration record against:
- daily average budget;
- campaign-level Target CPA;
- service categories;
- service areas;
- ad schedule;
- business photos;
- call and message routing numbers; and
- campaign status.
For the budget, compare the displayed daily average with the prior weekly budget divided by seven. Also check the monthly limit described by Google rather than treating one high-spend day as the whole picture.
Core business name, physical address, and standard hours sync from the Google Business Profile. Google says significant name or address changes can trigger a verification review and temporary campaign pause. Avoid combining an unnecessary profile overhaul with migration-day troubleshooting.
Run the lead-path checklist on the next valid event
For the next legitimate call, message, or booking lead, record:
- when Google shows the lead;
- when the destination receives it;
- when the primary owner sees it;
- when a person responds;
- whether the customer reply reaches the owner; and
- whether the outcome is recorded.
If any checkpoint fails, identify the layer:
- Google campaign or Lead Manager;
- phone or message destination;
- user permissions;
- notification settings;
- agency-to-client handoff;
- downstream integration; or
- internal staffing and ownership.
Do not call every delay “the algorithm.” Routing and staffing failures require different fixes from campaign-delivery issues.
Pause when the response path is not trustworthy
Google documents a campaign pause control under the campaign settings. If leads are arriving but nobody can reliably receive or work them, the authorized account owner should consider pausing according to the company's escalation plan while the path is repaired. Continuing to generate leads is not continuity when the response team cannot see them.
The First Two Weeks: Monitor the Handoff, Not Just Spend
Google advises allowing up to two weeks for migration to complete and performance to stabilize. That guidance is about campaign transition. It does not justify two weeks of unmonitored lead routing.
Use a short daily review during this period.
Audit lead ownership
For every new lead, ask:
- Was it assigned to one person?
- Did that person know they owned it?
- Was the first response recorded?
- Did the reply return to the same workflow?
- Was the lead booked, contacted, disputed, deferred, or closed?
Track unassigned and reassigned leads separately. Reassignment can reveal permission, shift, or notification gaps.
Compare lead types and delivery paths
Calls may continue to ring while message leads sit unseen. Booking leads may reach a different destination. Review each type independently rather than accepting a healthy total-lead count.
A compact monitoring log can use:
New Lead Manager records. Owner: office manager. Frequency: several times daily. Failure action: compare against phone and message destinations.
Unassigned leads. Owner: shift lead. Frequency: each shift change. Failure action: assign the lead and document the reason.
Call routing. Owner: operations owner. Frequency: daily and after number changes. Failure action: verify the destination and escalation.
Message replies. Owner: assigned responder. Frequency: daily. Failure action: confirm reply access and human takeover.
Downstream integration. Owner: system owner. Frequency: daily during stabilization. Failure action: re-test the event and inspect failure logs.
Campaign settings. Owner: advertiser or agency. Frequency: after migration and approved changes. Failure action: compare with the captured record.
Spend and charged leads. Owner: account manager. Frequency: daily initially. Failure action: investigate changes with account context.
Watch for duplicate notifications
During the transition, an office may receive Google alerts, CRM alerts, email forwards, and automated texts for the same lead. Duplicate notifications are not automatically bad, but duplicate ownership is.
Choose one system of record for status. Make it clear who responds and which alerts are informational. Otherwise two people may contact the same customer while another lead receives nothing.
Use response metrics the team can verify
Measure:
- lead visible to owner;
- time to acknowledgment, where used;
- time to human response;
- unassigned leads;
- failed or delayed downstream events;
- customer replies without an owner;
- contact and booking outcomes by lead type; and
- volume closed because it was out of area, scope, or capacity.
Compare these with the pre-migration baseline, but do not claim causation from a short transition window. A change may come from demand, budget, targeting, staffing, seasonality, or the migration itself.
Where Automated Follow-Up Fits
Moving the campaign interface does not automatically repair the response after a lead arrives.
For a lead source connected through a supported integration or webhook path, SecureMyLead can send an SMS receipt, maintain scheduled follow-up while the inquiry is unanswered, keep the text exchange visible to staff, and cancel later steps once a reply arrives. It does not manage LSA bids, budgets, Google Business Profile settings, disputes, phone answering, or the migration itself. No native LSA connection should be assumed without verifying the exact current path.
The operational test is the same for any follow-up tool: does a real captured lead enter the intended workflow, reach a named owner, and stop generic automation when the conversation starts?
For a broader paid-lead follow-up process, see how to follow up with Google Ads leads. For call-specific recovery, use the missed-call workflow.
What Not to Assume
Do not assume every account changes in August
The first phase applies to select U.S. advertisers. Use the administrator email and in-dashboard notice for the account's scheduled date.
Do not assume all historical data behaves the same way
Google says past lead history transfers to Lead Manager, while previous campaign performance reports do not carry over. Export the performance reports before dashboard access ends.
Do not assume “Performance Max” means standard PMax setup
This is a specialized pay-per-lead campaign type with different placements, charging, targeting, and asset behavior.
Do not assume transferred settings equal a working handoff
Settings transfer is a platform event. Response continuity requires access, notifications, routing, ownership, and a completed end-to-end check.
Google LSA Migration FAQ
Will ads stop showing during migration?
Google says it designed the automated migration for minimal downtime and that many ads will start running right away. It also advises allowing up to two weeks for migration to complete and performance to stabilize. Monitor the specific account rather than promising zero interruption.
Will old LSA reports transfer?
Previous campaign-level performance reports will not transfer. Google instructs advertisers to download or export them before migration. Past customer lead history is expected to move into Lead Manager.
Where are new leads after migration?
In Google Ads, open Goals → Conversions → Leads. Google says this Lead Manager table replaces the LSA lead inbox and supports lead review, feedback, downloads, and message interactions.
What happens to the weekly budget?
Google converts the historical average weekly budget to a daily average by dividing by seven. It describes the monthly spending limit as the daily average multiplied by 30.4, while daily spend may fluctuate.
What happens to different Target CPA values by service category?
Vertical-level Target CPA is not supported. Google says a unified campaign-level Target CPA is calculated for categories in one campaign and notes that separate campaigns can support separate bidding rules. Review the account before restructuring it.
How will the business know its migration date?
Google says the listed account administrator receives an email 14 days before migration, a final reminder seven days later, and a completion email. A banner also appears in the old dashboard.
When is the migration operationally complete?
Not when the redirect appears. Treat it as complete when authorized staff can access Lead Manager, settings match the verification record, each active lead type reaches its intended destination, a named owner responds, replies return correctly, and failures trigger an escalation.