Search “plumber near me” in Metro Detroit and you’ll usually see two kinds of paid listings before you get to the map. At the very top, there’s a row of businesses with a Google badge, a star rating, and a “Call” button. Those are Local Services Ads. Below them, there are text ads that look like regular search results with a small “Sponsored” label. Those are Google Ads, specifically Search ads.
Both can make your phone ring. They charge differently, they rank differently, and they’re good at different jobs. If you’re a plumber trying to decide where to put your budget, or wondering why you’re paying for both, here’s how I break it down for the plumbing companies I talk to.
Local Services Ads are usually best for emergency calls: the burst pipe, the backed-up sewer, the dead water heater. You pay per lead, and the badge builds trust fast. Google Ads are usually better when you want control over which jobs you get, like water heater replacements, repipes, sewer line work, and drain cleaning in specific cities, and when you want a landing page that sells the job.
For most plumbing companies I’d run both, but not in equal amounts, and not on day one. The rest of this post explains why and how to decide.
With Local Services Ads, Google charges you for valid leads related to your business, not clicks. A lead can be a phone call, a message, a voicemail, or a booking request. Google says a missed call during business hours counts as a charged lead if the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds. Follow-up calls from the same customer within 15 days aren’t charged again.
That last detail matters for plumbers. If your phone goes unanswered at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday, you can be charged for that lead even if you never talk to the customer. That’s one reason I pair Local Services Ads with missed-call text-back.
Before your ads can run, you have to pass Google’s screening and verification. Depending on your business, that can include background checks, business registration, insurance, and license checks. Google says verification takes 3 to 4 weeks on average after you submit your documents, and you’ll need a verified Google Business Profile linked to your account. Plumbing is one of the categories Google treats as urgent, with extra screening.
Once you pass, you get the Google Verified badge. Google has replaced the old Google Guaranteed badge with Google Verified and is ending the Money Back Guarantee, so if you remember Local Services Ads as “Google Guaranteed,” it’s the same product with a new badge.
Google says Local Services Ads ranking depends on your bid, your responsiveness to customers, and the quality of your profile, including your rating, number of reviews, response time, photos, and completed verifications. A plumber with more recent reviews who answers the phone can outrank a competitor who’s simply bidding more.
You set a weekly budget and pick a bid mode: Maximize leads (Google sets bids), Target cost per lead, or Max per lead (manual). Google notes it takes about 2 weeks for results to settle while the system learns.
Google says it doesn’t charge for leads it decides are invalid, such as spam, and that it re-assesses charged leads and may credit them automatically, usually within 30 days. But it no longer credits leads for “job type not serviced” or “geo not serviced.” If you don’t want toilet installs or calls from 40 miles away, you need to set your job types and service area carefully up front.
With Search ads, you’re usually charged when someone clicks your ad. Google explains it as cost-per-click bidding: you set (or let Google set) the most you’re willing to pay for a click, and you’re often charged less. A click might be someone tapping your phone number from the ad or landing on your website, and not every click becomes a call.
You pick the keywords you want to show up for, like “water heater installation,” “sewer line repair,” or “emergency plumber Canton,” and the cities, ZIP codes, or radius you want to cover. You also add negative keywords to block searches you don’t want, like “plumber jobs,” “plumbing school,” or “DIY drain cleaning.” That control is the biggest advantage Google Ads has over Local Services Ads.
A Search ad can send people to a page built for that job: water heater replacement, with your brands, financing if you offer it, reviews, and a big click-to-call button. That’s hard to match with a Local Services profile.
Google Ads have a lot more settings, and a lot more ways to waste money. Broad keywords, bad negative lists, and missing call tracking are how plumbers end up paying for clicks from people looking for a plumbing job, not a plumber.
Local Services Ads: per valid lead. Google Ads: usually per click.
Local Services Ads: the very top of the results, when Google shows them. Google Ads: the sponsored results, above and below the regular listings.
Local Services Ads: screening and verification first, with Google saying it averages 3 to 4 weeks. Google Ads: campaigns can usually launch once they’re built and the ads are approved.
Local Services Ads: you choose job types and service area. Google Ads: you choose keywords, negative keywords, locations, schedule, and landing pages.
Local Services Ads: bid, responsiveness, reviews, and profile quality. Google Ads: bids plus ad and landing page quality.
Local Services Ads: emergency and trust-driven calls. Google Ads: higher-value planned jobs and specific services or cities.
I’m not going to quote you an average cost per lead. It varies too much by city, season, and how competitive your area is, and any national number would mislead you. Instead, compare the two on cost per booked job using your own data.
This is an example of the math. Fill in your own numbers:
To do this, you need tracking: call recording on Google Ads, lead marking in your Local Services inbox, and a way to tie leads to jobs. Without it, you’re guessing. It’s also the only fair way to compare either one to what you’re paying HomeAdvisor or Angi.
With Local Services Ads, missed calls can still cost you and can hurt your ranking. With Google Ads, you paid for that click. Either way, an unanswered call is money gone. Missed-call text-back helps you recover some of those leads.
If you don’t do certain work, turn it off in your Local Services job types. Google won’t credit those leads anymore.
Job seekers, DIYers, and people looking for supply stores will happily click your ads. Keep a negative keyword list and check your search terms regularly.
If you can’t hear the calls, you can’t tell a booked job from a wrong number. I include call recording with Google Ads management for exactly this reason.
Reviews affect your Local Services ranking and your map pack visibility, and they’re what homeowners look at before they call. Asking every happy customer, ideally automatically, is one of the cheapest wins you’ve got.
Local Services Ads require a verified Google Business Profile, and your profile is what shows in the map pack, which is free traffic. A strong profile helps your Local Services Ads and gets you calls you don’t pay for at all. For most plumbers, I’d fix the profile before spending more on ads.
I set up and manage both Local Services Ads and Google Ads for plumbing companies in Metro Detroit and across Michigan, and I connect them to Google Business Profile management and GoHighLevel automation so leads get answered. You can see how it all fits on my plumber marketing page.
Book a 15-minute call. I’ll look at what you’re running now and tell you whether I’d start with Local Services Ads, Google Ads, or both, and why.
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