TL;DR
- Google calls Maps ads Local Ads; they serve from Search and Performance Max, unlocked by a location asset linked to a verified Business Profile or by affiliate location assets.
- Search campaigns bill per click on the normal auction, and directions, call, detail-view and website clicks on the map all count as clicks, with one charge per interaction.
- Performance Max with the Local store visits objective replaced Local campaigns; Google's Local Services Ads availability list does not include Thailand as of October 2026.
- Organic local pack rank uses relevance, distance and prominence and is unaffected by ad spend; both paths rely on the same Business Profile data.
Advertising on Google Maps is not a separate campaign type in Google Ads. It is an ad placement that a Search campaign becomes eligible for once you enable location assets linked to a Google Business Profile, and the ad then appears in search results inside the Google Maps app, on desktop Maps and in the Maps panel embedded in regular search results. With Search campaigns you pay per click, exactly as with Search ads, with no surcharge for appearing on the map. This article explains how Maps ads actually work, the setup from Business Profile through to Performance Max with store goals, how billing works, how it differs from organic Maps ranking, and which businesses it pays off for in 2026.
How Google Maps ads work
When someone searches in Google Maps for "coffee shop near me", "dental clinic Sukhumvit" or "car repair Bangna", the results include pins on the map and a list of businesses beside or beneath it. The top slot in that list (and a square pin on the map labelled as an ad) is the position you can buy through Google Ads. Google calls ads in this slot Local Ads. They can serve from Search and Performance Max campaigns, the pin and the in-list ad don't necessarily appear together, and they show the business name, address, review rating, distance, opening hours, a call button and a directions button, all pulled directly from the Business Profile.
Behind the scenes, three components have to work together. The first is a Search campaign with keywords that match what people search on Maps. The second is a location asset (formerly location extension) enabled in the account and linked to a verified Business Profile. The third is the campaign's network setting, which must include the Google Search Network, because Maps is part of that network, not Display and not search partners. With all three in place, your ordinary Search campaign automatically becomes eligible for the Maps auction without any new campaign.
For an ad to show on Maps in a given search, three things have to match: your keyword matches the query, the user's location or the location they are searching is inside the campaign's targeted area, and the linked Business Profile has a location in or near that area. Google weighs the distance between the user and the location together with bid and ad quality, so a business far from the searcher has a low chance of showing even with a higher bid.
How to run ads on Google Maps, step by step
Step 1: Verify the Google Business Profile first
A verified Google Business Profile is always required first, because the location asset pulls everything from this profile, and an unverified or suspended profile will not appear in ads. Check that the business name, primary category, address, phone number and opening hours are correct, because whatever is wrong in the profile will be wrong in the ad. If you have several locations, all of them should sit in the same Business Profile account or business group so they can be linked in one go.
Step 2: Link the Business Profile to the Google Ads account
In Google Ads, go to Assets, choose Location assets, and link to a Business Profile. If the email you use for Google Ads is already an owner or manager of the profile, the link is immediate. If not, the system sends a request to the profile owner for approval. After linking, location assets are enabled at account level by default, and you can restrict them to certain campaigns or certain locations through location filters (location groups or label-based filters).
Step 3: Prepare the Search campaign for local queries
Create or use an existing Search campaign with keywords in the forms people use on Maps: service plus area ("air con repair Ladprao"), service plus "near me", and the bare business category. Set location targeting to cover the radius customers actually travel from, not the whole country, and set the presence option to "People in or regularly in your targeted locations" to exclude people who are merely interested in the area but not there. Confirm the Google Search Network is on (it is by default). Add a call asset too if customers usually phone before visiting.
Step 4: Track local conversions
Once the Business Profile is linked, Google Ads automatically creates "local actions" conversion actions: directions requests, calls from the ad, website clicks, menu views, orders and others. Eligible accounts also get "store visits", an estimate based on aggregated and anonymised location data. Check whether these are set as primary or secondary. If you want Smart Bidding to optimise toward directions or calls, switch them to primary.
Step 5 (optional): Performance Max with store goals
If you want Google to manage ads across Maps, Search, Display, YouTube and Gmail together to drive people into the store, create a Performance Max campaign with the "Local store visits and promotions" objective. This campaign type replaced the old Local campaigns, which Google has retired. It uses the Business Profile as the source of locations and bids toward store visits and local actions. The trade-off is that you cannot control keywords and placements the way you can in Search, and it needs enough conversion volume to learn. Single-location businesses with modest budgets usually do better with Search plus location assets.
Local Services Ads: a separate route limited to some categories and countries
Local Services Ads (LSA) are pay-per-lead ads shown above search results for certain trade and professional services, carrying a Google Verified badge (which replaced the Google Guaranteed and Google Screened badges in October 2025). They require business verification and are only available in certain countries and categories. As of October 2026 Google's Local Services Ads help centre covers the US, Canada and a group of European countries, and Thailand is not among them, so check Google's availability list before planning around LSA. They should not be confused with the Local Ads described above.
How Google Maps ads are billed
Billing is per click (CPC), the same as Search ads, using the same auction. Search campaigns pay per click with no special rate for Maps; the exception is Performance Max, which can charge per thousand impressions when a branded logo pin is shown on Maps. What counts as a click on Maps is broader than a classic headline click: clicking to view location details, clicking for directions, clicking to call, clicking through to the website and clicking the pin on the map (Google charges for only one click type per interaction, even if the person clicks several of these items). Cost therefore depends on keyword and area competition, exactly as with Search ads.
Worth knowing: directions clicks and call clicks are worth more than website clicks for a physical business, because they signal that someone is about to visit or make contact. In Google Ads reports you can separate them by segmenting on click type to see what kind of click your budget is going to. If most clicks are detail views that go nowhere, it usually means the profile does not answer the questions people have, such as prices, hours or photos.
What a location asset is, and how it differs from an affiliate location asset
A location asset attaches your own Business Profile location data to your ads, letting Search ads show an address and a directions button, and it is the key that unlocks eligibility for Maps. Without location data from a location asset or an affiliate location asset, your ads still show in regular Search but never appear in the Maps ad slot.
An affiliate location asset is for brands that sell through other people's retail stores, such as an appliance manufacturer stocked in department stores or dealer shops. The brand picks retail chains from Google's list, and the ad shows the store nearest the user that carries the brand's products. This asset type does not need the brand's own Business Profile and suits manufacturers more than retailers.
One further point about location asset settings: at campaign level you can choose to show only selected locations through a filter, which is necessary when one campaign promotes Bangkok branches only but the Business Profile account has branches nationwide.
How it differs from organic Maps ranking
Organic Maps results (the local pack or map pack) are ranked on the three factors Google states: relevance, distance and prominence, where prominence includes reviews, ratings, profile completeness and signals from the business website. Climbing the local pack is done by improving the profile, categories, reviews and the website's SEO, but you cannot control when it happens, and it takes months. The ad slot is a separate position that neither affects nor benefits from organic ranking. Buying ads does not lift organic rank, and good organic rank does not lower ad prices.
What the two paths share is the same Business Profile. Good reviews and ratings make both the ad and the organic listing more credible, and wrong data hurts both. The sensible order is therefore to get local SEO for the profile and website in shape first, then use Maps ads to cover the period before organic rank arrives, or the keywords too competitive to climb. Businesses already in the local pack still gain from ads by holding the top slot so a competitor buying ads cannot slide in above them.
Comparison table: Maps ads versus organic ranking
This table compares the two main ways to appear on Google Maps, according to the mechanics Google actually uses.
| Topic | Maps ads (Search + location asset) | Organic local pack |
|---|---|---|
| Position shown | Top of the list and a pin labelled as an ad | Below the ads, ordered by relevance, distance and prominence |
| Cost | Per click via auction on Search, including directions and call clicks; Performance Max may charge per thousand impressions for branded logo pins | No click cost, but ongoing time and work on the profile and website |
| Requirements | Verified Business Profile linked to Google Ads, plus a Search campaign on the Search Network | Verified Business Profile, correct categories, reviews and website signals |
| Time to results | Can show within a day of ad approval | Usually weeks to months |
| Control | Choose keywords, areas, schedule and which locations show | Only the profile and website data; no control over timing |
Which businesses suit Maps ads
Maps ads pay off most when customers have to come to you, or want a provider close by. The best fits are:
- Restaurants, cafes and retail with a storefront, where people search "near me" while on the move and decide within minutes.
- Clinics, dentists, pharmacies and health services, chosen by distance and reviews, often with a booking call straight from the results page.
- Trades and repair services such as air conditioning, car repair and locksmiths, where urgency is high and people want whoever can arrive fastest.
- Hotels, gyms, tutoring schools and multi-location businesses that need each branch to win customers in its own radius.
- Dealers and showrooms where customers must see the product in person, such as cars, furniture and building materials.
Poor fits are online-only businesses with no premises (whose Business Profile usually fails verification anyway), service-area businesses with a hidden address (still usable, but with no pin on the map), and B2B businesses whose customers do not search by area. For that last group, SEO and ordinary Search campaigns deliver more directly.
How to measure and tune Maps ads after launch
Two to four weeks after launch, look at three things. First, the click type report, for the share of directions and call clicks against all clicks. Second, the distance report, which shows how far clickers were from the location and helps fit the targeting radius to the distance customers actually travel. Third, for multi-location businesses, the per-location report, to find branches that get clicks but no calls or directions, which usually points to a problem in that branch's profile.
The fastest-acting adjustments are location bid adjustments (raise bids in the radius near the location, lower them further out; this works on manual or Enhanced bidding, since Smart Bidding ignores them), followed by an ad schedule aligned to opening hours, because directions clicks while the shop is closed are mostly wasted, and negative keywords for queries naming districts you do not serve. Businesses that want tracking from the map click through to an appointment or an actual visit usually need a lead generation structure that connects tracking numbers and forms to Google Ads from the start.
What this means for Thai marketers
Thai-language searches on Maps tend to be service plus a neighbourhood, road or BTS/MRT station rather than the official district name, for example "massage Asok" or "skin clinic BTS On Nut". Campaign keywords should therefore cover neighbourhood and station names within the service radius rather than district names alone. Another point is that many Thai businesses have not verified their Business Profile, or verified it and left stale data such as a phone number nobody answers or wrong opening hours, which turns paid clicks into unanswered calls. Finally, LINE, the main contact channel for Thai customers, is not a local action Google counts. Put a LINE link on the website the ad points to and track that click as a conversion yourself. A team running Google Ads for Thai businesses should start by checking the profile and the measurement before adding Maps budget.
FAQ about advertising on Google Maps
Do I need a Google Business Profile first
Yes, and it must be verified, because the location asset that unlocks Maps eligibility pulls all its data from the Business Profile. The only route that does not need your own profile is the affiliate location asset for brands sold through other retailers.
Do Maps ads need a separate campaign
No. An existing Search campaign shows on Maps as soon as location assets and the Google Search Network are enabled. If you want a separate budget and keyword set for local queries, you can build a dedicated Search campaign, but it is not required.
Are directions clicks on the map charged
Yes, they are charged as clicks just like website clicks, as are call clicks and location detail clicks, and Google charges for only one click type per interaction. Google reports these separately by click type so you can see what kind of action the budget is going to.
Will buying ads improve my organic Maps ranking
No. Organic rank in the local pack uses relevance, distance and prominence, none of which include ad spend. Both systems use the same Business Profile but rank independently.
Can a business with no storefront that travels to customers use Maps ads
Yes, if the Business Profile is verified as a service-area business. The ad shows the service area instead of an address and has no pin on the map, but the call button and profile information still appear as normal.
If you want Maps ads to work alongside your Business Profile and existing Search campaigns without losing clicks to people outside your radius, our Google Ads management in Bangkok team can check the profile link, keyword structure and local measurement before the budget starts.
