When Google opened its Local Services Ads (LSAs) platform to law firms in 2021, it led to a major shift in online legal marketing. Now, the LSA platform itself is about to undergo a big change. If your law firm is among the many that have relied on LSAs to gain new cases, you need to be ready for the change now.
Starting in August 2026, Google began merging LSA accounts into its main Google Ads platform, creating something akin to a Performance Max campaign. The “migration,” as Google calls it, will continue in stages through 2027. But it won’t happen without warning. Your firm will get a two-week notice before Google migrates your account from the previously separate LSA platform.
Firms Can Prepare Now for the Migration of LSAs to Google Ads
Our advice: don’t wait to get that notice from Google. Your firm can prepare now for the LSA migration by understanding what will stay the same and what will change, and by taking steps to transition to Google Ads without missing opportunities to sign new clients. For instance, you will need to preserve your valuable historic data before migration.
While we will cover those topics here, you should also reach out to Consultwebs to speak with one of our experienced LSA consultants. We can review how the migration to Google Ads could impact your law firm’s overall digital marketing strategy and how we can help you continue to get the most out of your LSA advertising budget after the migration happens.
What Will Stay the Same with Your Law Firm’s Google Local Services Ads?
Your law firm’s Local Services Ads are not going away. As Google explains, they’re just moving to a new home. You will manage your LSAs in a different place, with a few new rules and settings you will need to become familiar with.
Otherwise, LSAs will continue to offer the same key features that have made them such a popular, cost-efficient, and effective way for law firms to gain valid case leads over the last five years, including:
- Visibility – Your law firm’s LSAs can still appear near the top of Google Search and Google Maps when a local person searches for legal help online, appearing above PPC ads and other Google search results. One of the main benefits of LSAs is that your firm can appear in these high-value spots and reach people when they are looking to hire a local attorney, not merely browsing.
- No keyword targeting – You still won’t have to use target keywords, or search terms, for your LSAs to show in relevant local searches. Google will continue to rely on information like your office location, practice areas, and business profile.
- Pay-per-lead model – LSAs will still follow this billing model, allowing law firms to spend their advertising dollars on people who are trying to contact them, or valid leads, rather than losing money when ad clicks don’t lead to cases.
That’s the good news. The not-quite-so-good news: the transition to Google Ads will still bring many changes to how your firm manages and pays for LSAs. If you aren’t ready, your firm could lose marketing data and miss out on valid case leads.
What Will Change When Your Firm’s LSA Account Migrates to Google Ads?
With the migration of your law firm’s LSAs to Google Ads on the horizon, these are the critical changes your law firm should be getting ready for now:
- Dashboard and data – With Google Ads, you will use a new platform for managing your LSAs, similar to how you manage current Local Services Ads. However, you will no longer be able to access Local Services Ads dashboard or previous campaign performance reports. So, if you don’t preserve them, you will lose key data about your LSA campaigns. Also, instead of managing leads through your LSA inbox, you will manage them through your Google Ads interface.
- Billing and budget management – After the move, you can no longer use manual bidding (or “custom bidding”) for maximum cost per lead. Instead, you will use one campaign-level target cost per lead across all service categories. You will also manage an average daily budget to achieve your pay-per-lead goals through your Google Ads account, and not a weekly budget.
- Syncing of your profile – Your current LSA profile, including your firm’s name, address, office business hours, and other business details will sync from your Google Business profile, making it crucial to ensure your information is current and correct.
Additionally, with the shift to Google Ads, LSAs can no longer feature Better Business Bureau (BBB) ratings as a “callout.” You will need to offer other information to build trust with prospective clients in your local market.
By preparing for these changes today rather than waiting for the migration date, your law firm should be able to avoid any performance drops in your LSA advertising and keep your lead pipeline flowing steadily.
What Can Lawyers Do Now to Get Ready for the Google LSA Migration?
According to Google, your law firm will receive both 14-day and seven-day notices before your LSA account migrates to Google Ads. Waiting until you get that notice to prepare for the move is not the best plan. Instead, take steps now, including:
- Download your data – Because your LSA historical performance reports won’t transfer to Google Ads, you should export those previous performance reports as soon as possible. This performance data will allow your firm to continue year-over-year comparisons, track the trends in your case leads, and assess your return on investment (ROI) in your average LSA ad spend.
- Check your Google Business profile – Your LSA profile will sync with your Google Business profile. So, you need to make sure the information is accurate, including your business name, the number of lawyers at your firm, different office locations, and service areas.
- Tighten your intake and lead response – Now is a good time to review your intake process, including designating who monitors your leads and assesses lead quality, how you route calls and messages your firm gets through LSAs, and how quickly you respond to them. The faster your follow-ups, the more value you will get from your lead costs.
- Find alternative callouts – If you can no longer use your BBB rating as a trust signal, look to alternatives, such as your lawyers’ years of experience, free consultations, and 24/7 availability.
How Can Consultwebs Help Your Firm Move Your LSAs to Google Ads?
For more than 25 years, Consultwebs has focused exclusively on working with law firms across the country to connect with clients and maximize the return on their advertising dollars, including their LSA budgets. The migration of LSAs to Google Ads won’t change that a bit. We’re ready to help your firm today.
When you work with our team, we will draw on our extensive experience with LSAs to explain the changes, show how they could affect your law firm, and help you act before minor issues lead to major problems in your LSA campaigns, such as losing the vital historical data that won’t carry over to Google Ads.
As a Google Partner, we have demonstrated our ability to handle LSA campaign management effectively. We can help you prepare for the migration of your LSAs into Google Ads. More importantly, after the migration, we will help your firm use LSAs to continue to draw qualified leads that become clients, including analyzing your lead history, or record of reaching the right clients in your targeted locations.
Want to Learn More About LSAs and Google Ads? Connect with Us Today
The migration of LSAs to Google Ads is happening now. Be one of the law firms to make the move as smoothly as possible and come out on the other side of the transition with an even stronger overall online marketing campaign. Contact us to speak with an LSA expert and start the transition to Google Ads today.
