Pay for Play in LSAs
By Brandon Pierpont
Google is the undisputed champion of online search – accounting for over 90% of the search engine market. For painting contractors aiming to scale beyond localized word-of-mouth, performing well on Google isn’t optional – it’s essential.
A strong digital presence not only drives growth but also acts as a safety net during economic downturns. Given the critical role Google plays in the success of local painting companies, understanding its business model and its future direction is an important step toward capitalizing on upcoming transitions.
Google doesn’t reveal its product roadmap to the public, but years of working closely with the search giant have revealed some significant clues.
Major adjustments to the algorithm and changes to the search engine results page (SERP) over the past six months suggest that Google is steering local search toward a pay-to-play model. For painting contractors, this means a dramatic change in how leads are generated – and how you pay for them.
Before diving into how you can make the most of these changes, let’s briefly review how Google’s business model works.
The ad economy
Google’s primary revenue generator is online advertising. With over 8.5 billion searches conducted daily and the average user performing three to four searches per day, Google has a massive audience. Google monetizes these eyeballs through Google ads, which generate a staggering $650 million per day.
Despite this impressive revenue figure, organic results – like the Google Business Profile (GBP) listings – capture the lion’s share of user clicks (only a relatively small percentage of searches result in a click on Google ads). This means that for the vast majority of searches, Google isn’t making money.
While a well-optimized GBP currently yields high-quality, free leads for painting contractors, Google’s introduction of Local Service Ads (LSAs) marks the first significant step toward charging for those leads.
Pay to play
Local Service Ads currently represent a bridge between organic search and traditional paid search.
Organic results, such as the “map pack”, provide free exposure for painting companies. Local Service Ads are pay-to-play, but show up even higher on Google’s search results page (at the very top).
Painting contractors that appear in LSAs connect with prospects actively searching for painting services on Google. These leads typically have high intent and a greater likelihood of converting into actual appointments, because LSAs only show up for searches with commercial intent (e.g. they will appear for the search “Painter in Dallas”, but not for the search “What colors to paint your bedroom”).
And while traditional Google search ads work on a pay-per-click basis, LSAs currently operate on a pay-per-lead model. This cost structure falls somewhere between organic results (which are free) and traditional Google search ads (which require payment even for clicks that don’t turn into leads).
In short, LSAs are the next step in Google’s strategy to capture revenue from local search, and for painting contractors, they represent a critical opportunity to secure more high-quality leads.
Dollar signs
Understanding the evolution of LSAs is key to predicting the future of Google. Here are the major changes Google has implemented over the past six months:
1. Transition from a Dedicated App to a Unified Website
Google phased out the dedicated LSA application. Instead, all functionalities – profile management, lead tracking and scoring, customer interaction, and review monitoring – are now handled exclusively via a web-based dashboard.
This shift streamlines management into one centralized platform. Familiarizing yourself with this new dashboard is critical for effective ad management.
2. Verified Google Business Profile Required
Google previously did not require a verified Google Business Profile to run LSAs. Google’s stated rationale for now making this mandatory is to enhance customer protection, prevent impersonation, and ensure consistency in business information across platforms.
Google LSAs and GBP are becoming more and more intertwined. This integration signifies that maintaining an optimized Google Business Profile is not just beneficial but essential for a strong LSA presence. Ensure you are fully optimizing your company’s Google Business Profile in addition to LSA profile to remain competitive at Local Service Ads.
3. Integration of Google Business Profile & Local Service Ad Reviews
Previously, reviews from LSAs and GBP were managed separately. They are now merged into one comprehensive review system.
This means that every customer review impacts your reputation on both platforms. Proactive review management is now even more essential, as negative reviews have a wider impact.
4. AI-Driven Lead Dispute Process
In the past, businesses could dispute LSA leads manually. Now, Google’s lead dispute process is automated through artificial intelligence.
The use of AI streamlines the process and speeds up resolutions, but it also limits your ability to directly contest leads. This means you will sometimes pay for leads you shouldn’t, increasing the importance of turning the legitimate leads you receive into profitable projects.
5. Local Service Ads Appearing for Brand Searches
It has become the default setting for companies running LSAs to appear for brand searches (searches made directly for their business name rather than a general query, e.g. “Bob’s Painting Company” vs. “Painter near me”). It has been difficult for many companies to turn this off, but Google now offers that option in LSA settings.
While Google currently allows companies to turn off brand searches on their Local Service Ads, the search engine giant may reverse its stance and make this appearance mandatory. This would mean painting contractors would have to pay for leads even when customers search specifically for their brand name, another step toward Google monetizing what was previously free traffic. The positive is that for brand searches, only the LSA for that specific brand is displayed (so a single ad, with no competitor ads present).
What Is The Future of Google Local Search?
These changes strongly indicate that Google is aggressively moving toward a pay-to-play model for local search. This is likely to significantly impact your painting business by driving up the cost of Google leads.
Whereas Google Business Profile leads have traditionally been free, the rise of LSAs means businesses will increasingly pay for visibility and high-intent leads. Painting contractors must now be prepared to allocate more of their marketing budget to capture these valuable leads.
Adding to this expense, we predict LSAs will eventually move from a pay-per-lead to a pay-per-click model. While painting businesses currently only pay for leads through LSAs, a transition to a pay-per-click model would mean you pay for every click on your ad, whether or not that person ends up contacting your business.
This shift, if it does occur, will likely increase the cost of LSA leads. It is therefore crucial for painting companies to not only focus on lead generation, but also on turning those leads into booked projects efficiently. Turning a higher percentage of leads into profitable projects will help painting businesses maintain a positive return on investment as lead costs increase.
The logical end point here for Google would be for Google Business Profile to ultimately give way to Local Service Ads completely. While LSAs appear at the top of Google search results, free leads through Google Business Profile are still plentiful for painting contractors. Over time, Google may decrease the importance of GBP in favor of paid Local Service Ads, with the potential to eventually eliminate Google Business Profile altogether.
The Play to Make
For painting companies with long-term growth goals, embracing Google LSAs is absolutely essential. Regardless of your current ROI or opinions about the platform, neglecting to build a strong LSA profile now risks your company falling behind in Google search results. With Google prioritizing Local Service Ads – placing them at the top of the page, integrating them more tightly with Google Business Profile, and even including brand searches – painting companies simply cannot afford to ignore this channel.
Overall, the evolution of LSAs indicates that painting contractors who get ahead of these changes and build robust, optimized profiles will be best positioned to succeed in a market where every lead comes at a cost. With Google’s dominance of the search engine market unlikely to change anytime soon, painting companies must learn to navigate Google’s ecosystem effectively to capture these valuable leads.
Optimize to thrive
To thrive in this new environment, painting contractors need a clear, actionable strategy. Here’s a structured framework to help you maximize the benefits of Local Service Ads:
Optimize Both Your Local Service Ad Profile & Google Business Profile: Ensure all the details in your Local Service Ad profile and Google Business Profile are fully accurate and that the two profiles match each other. In particular, check that business hours, contact details, business address, service areas, and descriptions are up to date. If setting up LSAs for the first time, complete the required background check, proof of insurance, and any licensing requirements swiftly to prevent delays in launching your ads.
Maximize Your Budget: We recommend setting your Google LSA budget to the maximum allowed. You will not end up spending near this amount, but maximizing your budget encourages Google to favor your ads over those of your competitors, all else considered.
Hire a Call Center: Google prioritizes showing businesses marked as “open” for both Google Local Service Ads as well as Google Business Profile. Listing your company as open when no one is available to answer the phone, however, will have a negative impact on your results. Our strong recommendation is to hire a call center to take calls outside of normal business hours, and then mark your business as open 24/7.
Upload Quality Visuals: Use professional photos that showcase your best work. High-quality images can significantly enhance your credibility and attract more leads. Ensure that you are regularly uploading new photos to your Google LSA profile (at least once per month; we do this weekly for our partners). Do NOT edit these photos in any way (e.g. you would not create a collage and upload that). Be sure to not use any stock images either. Google wants unedited, authentic images from your company.
Answer Leads Promptly: Ensure you pick up the phone for all LSA leads. We recommend using a tracking number dedicated exclusively to these leads, and saving that number as “Google LSA” so you know when an inbound call is from Local Service Ads. If you do happen to miss a phone call, be sure to call them back through the same line so Google can track that you replied to that lead. For messages received through Google LSA, reply promptly. This is all about providing customers a great experience when they interact with your ads.
Rate Your Leads: Rate all leads as soon as possible. Google wants your feedback, so rating leads quickly and consistently maintains a more optimized LSA profile.
Stay on Top of Your Local Service Ad Profile: Regularly review your profile for issues to ensure you correct them quickly. Are there any violations to fix? Any photos flagged by Google? (If so, just delete the photo in question). Ensure that your new certificate of insurance and any other replacements to expiring documents are uploaded prior to expiration. Maintaining an up-to-date, violation free profile will help keep you in Google’s good graces.
Crush Reviews: Reviews are the name of the game for both GBP and LSAs. Ensure you are regularly generating 5-star reviews from your projects through your GBP review link. Our minimum benchmark is that you should be generating at least one 5-star review per every three projects completed. Ensure that you reply to all reviews on the same business day, and do your best to handle any negative reviews through resolving grievances.
Have a Killer Lead Handling and Sales Process: Ensure your business knows how to effectively turn leads into quotes, and quotes into profitable projects. Doing so will help you not only maximize your return on investment on LSA leads, but will likely provide a better customer experience as well.
Adapt to Local Service Ad Changes: Google Local Service Ads are evolving rapidly. Keep up to date with any future changes and ensure you capitalize on them. Play Google’s game well, and Google will reward you
Go all-in
Google’s dominance in online search is undisputed – and its Local Service Ads are at the forefront of a major change. For painting contractors, this means that the era of free organic leads is gradually giving way to a pay-to-play landscape
By understanding the evolution of LSAs and what this means for the future of Google, you can better position your company for success.
Now is the time to go all-in on Google Local Service Ads – the future of your business depends on it.
Brandon Pierpont is the founder of Painter Marketing Pros, and has helped over 350 painting companies scale. He can be reached at [email protected].
