If you use Google Local Services Ads, answering the phone is about to matter even more. (As if it didn’t matter enough before.)

Starting October 1, 2026, Google is changing how it charges for certain phone leads.

Under the new policy, if someone calls your business from your LSA during business hours and stays on the line for at least 20 seconds, Google may charge you for that lead even if you don’t answer. When google says they may charge you, expect that they are going to.

In other words: you could pay twice for an opportunity you never got to talk to. First you pay for the lead, then you pay the responsiveness penalty for not answering the call. 

What’s Changing With Local Services Ads?

There are two changes you need to know about.

Missed calls may be charged. If a caller stays on the line at least 20 seconds during your LSA business hours, the call may qualify as a lead even if you don’t answer.

There are exceptions. If your phone system has a phone tree that requires callers to press a key to reach the right department, the 20-second timer starts after they press the key. Google also says it is adding safeguards to help reduce spam and robocalls.

Follow-up calls may also qualify. If the first call wasn’t charged, but a later call with that customer meets Google’s requirements for a valid lead, that later call may be charged.

That doesn’t mean you’re going to be charged for every repeat call. It means an uncharged first call doesn’t necessarily mean the opportunity won’t be charged later.

Why Answering the Phone Matters

I can optimize your Local Services Ads, manage your budget, watch lead quality, and make sure we’re targeting the right opportunities, but I can’t answer your phone for you.

Google already considers responsiveness when determining how many Local Services Ads opportunities you are going to get. Missed calls work against you.

Starting October 1, a missed call could cost you in two ways:

  • You may pay for a lead you didn’t answer.
  • Missed calls may work against your LSA performance.

What Businesses Should Do Before October 1

1. Make Sure Your LSA Schedule Matches Your Availability

If your Local Services Ads show that you are open, a human should be available to answer.

If nobody reliably answers after 5:00, for example, don’t mark yourself as open in LSA, and certainly don’t run ads after 5:00.

More leads aren’t better if you don’t answer them.

2. Check Your Missed Calls Every Day

Don’t assume most calls are getting answered. Look at what’s actually happening. And call them back.

Are you missing calls during lunch? Early mornings? Late afternoons? When your office manager or CSRs are already on another call?

If there’s a pattern, you need to know about it and address it.

3. Have a Backup Plan

What happens when your main person can’t pick up?

Call forwarding, overflow coverage, an answering service, or an AI booking system (when setup properly) can help make sure a good opportunity doesn’t disappear because everyone was busy for a few minutes. To be very clear, an AI Booking system is not a replacement for real human interaction, but can stop the bleeding when your humans are all on other calls and after hours.

Someone needs to own the lead when the phone rings.

4. Track What Happens to Your Leads

You don’t just want to know how many leads your marketing generates. You want to know what happens next.

How many calls were answered? How many were qualified? How many turned into appointments or booked jobs? And how much revenue did they produce?

If your marketing generates 40 good opportunities but only 22 get booked, you have a lead-handling question. And that’s fixable!

Local Services Ads Are Connecting Marketing and Operations More Closely

The October 1 change highlights something I’ve talked about with clients for a long time: successful marketing doesn’t end when an opportunity is generated.

Your ads can create the opportunity. Your website can help someone choose you. Your reviews can build trust. But when someone is ready to hire and picks up the phone, your business has to complete the connection.

If I manage your Local Services Ads, I’m keeping an eye on the advertising side. I’ll continue watching performance, lead quality, and your LSA setup and make adjustments where they make sense.

On your end, now is the time to make sure you have the right call coverage and lead-handling processes in place.

I’ll keep working to make your phone ring. Make sure someone is there to answer it.

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