Google LSA playbook numbers

Google’s Local Services Ads are sold as a pay-per-lead product, and Google tells advertisers to set an average weekly budget tied to the number of leads they want. (support.google.com) In Local Services Ads, businesses pay for phone calls and messages that count as valid leads, not for clicks, and Google says weekly budgets can run above or below target before settling against a monthly cap. (support.google.com 1) (support.google.com 2) Google also says lead volume is shaped by both budget and bidding mode. The company now offers Maximize Leads, Max Per Lead, and Target Cost Per Lead, and says advertisers that do not know which automated option to use should consider Maximize Leads first. (support.google.com 1) (support.google.com 2) That makes the recent social-media playbook less a secret formula than a practical reading of Google’s own system: start with enough weekly budget to buy data, then adjust bidding once lead flow is large enough to measure. Google said in September 2024 that Target Cost Per Lead was added to give small businesses more flexibility than a hard bid cap. (support.google.com 1) (support.google.com 2) The harder number to verify is the claimed cost per lead for electricians. Google does not publish a universal price table for every trade and market, and outside benchmark firms show that paid-search lead costs in home services vary widely by channel, geography, and campaign setup. (support.google.com) (localiq.com) (webfx.com) LocaliQ said the average cost per lead for home services search ads in 2025 was $66.02, a figure for standard search advertising rather than Local Services Ads specifically. WebFX’s 2026 industry roundup said average pay-per-click cost per lead across industries can range from $80 to $819, underscoring how broad paid-search pricing can be. (localiq.com) (webfx.com) The close-rate claim also sits in a wider operational context. Invoca said its 2025 home-services call study, based on more than 60 million phone calls, found that 37% of calls from digital marketing were leads and 46% of those leads converted on the call. (invoca.com) For contractors, that means ad economics do not stop at the lead price. Google ranks Local Services Ads partly on responsiveness and review quality, and ServiceTitan said missed follow-up on Local Services Ads leads can distort return on ad spend as much as bidding decisions do. (support.google.com) (servicetitan.com) Google’s pitch remains simple: show up in local search, carry the Google Guaranteed or verification badge where eligible, and pay for leads instead of clicks. The playbook circulating online puts specific numbers on that pitch, but the official guidance still comes back to the same variables — weekly budget, bid strategy, lead quality, and how fast the business answers the phone. (ads.google.com) (support.google.com)