Google is moving Local Services Ads into the main Google Ads platform and converting them into a specialized pay-per-lead version of Performance Max. The change starts in August 2026 with US home and storefront services, broadens later in 2026, and reaches accounts outside the US in 2027. Once a campaign migrates, the old LSA dashboard and its historical performance reports go away, so advertisers need to export their data before their migration date, which Google says it will announce 14 days in advance.
What is actually changing
The billing model stays; the reporting home does not. LSA campaigns become a pay-per-lead form of Performance Max that lives inside Google Ads rather than the separate LSA interface. Some familiar controls survive the move and some do not. According to PPC Land, Google's Ads Product Liaison confirmed that the LSA dashboard and historical performance reports will be unavailable after the transition.
What stays the same
- The pay-per-lead billing model, so you still pay for leads rather than clicks.
- Placement on Google Search and Google Maps.
- Keywordless targeting based on your service categories.
- The Google Verified badge.
What goes away
- Vertical-level target CPA manual bidding is removed.
- Weekly budgets are replaced by daily averages.
- Better Business Bureau callouts are dropped.
- The standalone LSA dashboard and its historical reports become unavailable once a campaign transitions.
Why the lost reports matter
The reporting change is the part that needs action rather than opinion. Once a campaign moves over, the historical lead data tied to the old dashboard is no longer accessible, and there is no described way to pull it back afterward. Anything you want to keep, whether lead volumes, cost per lead over time, or the record you use to judge performance and defend a budget, has to be exported before the migration date. Because Google is giving each account only 14 days of notice, the practical window to prepare is short once that notice arrives.
The loss of manual CPA control
Removing vertical-level target CPA means advertisers who set their own cost-per-lead targets by service category lose that lever. Bidding folds into the Performance Max system, which decides how to spend against the pay-per-lead goal. For accounts that leaned on manual CPA to hold a specific lead cost, this becomes a re-learning exercise. How signals, budgets, and goals interact inside Performance Max turns into the thing to understand, and the shift from weekly budgets to daily averages changes how pacing needs to be watched.
What this means for Thai marketers
Thai accounts are not in the first waves. The rollout begins with US home and storefront services and only reaches non-US accounts in 2027, so there is nothing to switch on in Thailand today. Two things still make this worth reading now. Agencies and in-house teams here that run Local Services Ads for US-based home-services clients sit inside the affected group and should plan exports and a bidding rethink on the announced timeline. The direction also reads as a signal, since Google is folding a standalone product into Performance Max and daily-average budgets, a pattern it has favoured across the platform. Anyone who relies on LSA can treat the US timeline as a preview of what to expect locally. For businesses that live on local visibility, this is a good moment to check that paid placements sit alongside solid local SEO, and that lead measurement is clean enough to survive a reporting change, which is where a proper GA4 setup earns its keep.
FAQ
When does the migration start?
It begins in August 2026 with US home and storefront services, broadens later in 2026, and reaches non-US accounts in 2027.
Will I lose my historical LSA data?
Yes, after your campaign transitions. Google's Ads Product Liaison confirmed the LSA dashboard and historical performance reports will be unavailable, so export your data before your migration date, which is announced 14 days ahead.
Does pay-per-lead billing continue?
Yes. The pay-per-lead model, Search and Maps placement, keywordless service-category targeting, and the Google Verified badge all remain.
If your accounts touch Local Services Ads, the useful move right now is a calm audit: note which campaigns fall in the US first wave, set a reminder for the 14-day notice so nothing gets exported late, and get comfortable with Performance Max reporting. If you want a second pair of eyes on your Google Ads setup before the change lands, Relevant Audience is happy to help.
