Attorneys (and other advertisers) using Local Services Ads (LSA) must now have a matching Google Business Profile (GBP) in order for their ads to keep displaying.
Moving forward, LSA accounts not tied to a GBP will stop displaying in the Google Screened section of Google. The change is rolling out gradually. At the time of this article, some attorneys were given a November 21, 2024 deadline, and others were given until January 22, 2025.
The effort from Google comes after OMF employees pressured Google for 3.5yrs to help with the many, many, many spam problems LSA has. Contrary to popular belief, advertisers were historically able to configure an LSA account wven with no associated GBP in place.
To affiliate an LSA with a GBP, the Google Account which runs the LSA account must be added as an “owner” or “manager” of the relevant GBP account.
Also new: New reviews for Local Services Ads now must be collected through your Google Business Profile link. Google is no longer allowing “LSA reviews”. Most people didn’t know these existed in the first place. Reviews will surface on both your Local Services Ads and your Google Business Profile.
LSA Advertisers will Receive one of two Messages:
- Your Google Business profile is now affiliated to your Local Service Ads Account
- Action needed to keep your Local Services ad running
If you receive the “Your Google Business profile is now affiliated to your Local Service Ads Account” email, your account is all set and no changes are needed. The email looks like this:
If you receive the “Action needed to keep your Local Services ad running”, your account needs to be updated as soon as possible, and the email looks like this:
How To Properly Affiliate your LSA & GBP Accounts:
Beware Google’s “Action needed to keep your Local Services ad running” email. It says “claim your business”. Your business is probably already claimed.
To affiliate an LSA with a GBP, the Google Account which runs the LSA account must be added as an “owner” or “manager” of the relevant GBP account.
Do not attempt to claim your already claimed business. Instead, go to your Google Business Page dashboard, and add the email address used to manage your LSA account to GBP as a “manager”.
In the LSA backend, you’ll see a message like this. It is safe to ignore as long as you take the steps above.
Google also set up this help document with answers to additional frequently asked questions: https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/13538718.
Questions?
We run Local Services Ads for Lawyers and manage many accounts. If you need additional assistance with your LSA or GBP account please feel free to reach out.