Local Services Ads Partner Updates [August 2022]
Welcome to the August edition of Google’s Local Services Ads Partner Updates. Here’s what you need to know:
Back to School Season
As summer gives way to a new school year, preparations are underway. Drawing insights from last year’s data and observing an upward trend in Home services and Professional services such as Roofers, House Cleaners, Traffic Lawyers, and Litigation Lawyers, we anticipate increased demand in emerging Local Services Ads verticals, including Language Instructors, Tutors, and Beauty Schools. Here’s how you can stay informed:
- Utilize trends.Google.com to delve into search trends and gain insight into your customers’ interests.
- Explore Consumer Interest Insights in Google Ads for essential performance metrics like search terms that triggered your ads and customer engagement on Google.
Webinars & Events with Google
The Google Local Services Ads team is seeking collaboration with strategic partners for webinars and events centered around service providers in the Wellness, Education, People Care, and Pet Care Local Services verticals. If your agency or company plans to host a webinar or event with the potential to reach 100+ clients, kindly complete this form, and our team will reach out to you.
Reminder: Testing Single Business Mobile Ads
A quick reminder that Google is currently experimenting with single business Local Services Ads for mobile searches (see example below). This test aims to assist businesses in newer verticals or underserved areas by enabling them to receive leads as soon as their ads are approved, without waiting for other local businesses’ approvals. It’s a prime opportunity to secure top positions on search results pages by venturing into areas and verticals with high consumer demand but fewer verified providers.
The desktop experience remains unaffected by this launch.
NEW: Messaging Responsiveness
Message leads offer an alternative way for consumers to connect with service providers for jobs. To promote consumer engagement through messaging, Google plans to display qualifying providers’ average message response times (e.g., a text callout indicating “Typically replies in 15 min”) on the mobile immersive page. Here are the details:
- Messaging leads from the last 90 days will be considered to avoid stale data.
- Responsiveness information will only be shown to consumers if the provider has received at least 2 leads in the last 90 days.
- Messages received during weekends or outside of business hours will be included.
- Responsiveness scores longer than 24 hours will not be displayed.
NEW: Updated Zip Code/Service Area Selector UI
Google is enhancing the service area editor, offering providers greater control over location targeting similar to Google Ads. Providers can select and exclude geographic targets, which will be represented as chips. Invalid or redundant geo targets will be highlighted. This update is currently rolling out and should be fully deployed by the end of August.
Questions or Inquiries?
If you have any inquiries or need further assistance, please consult the Local Services Ads on Google Help Page, or get in touch with our Local View team for comprehensive guidance.