Local service ads: what we stopped doing

We used to run Local Service Ads and search campaigns against the same terms and let them fight. The auction does not care that both are yours; you simply pay twice to appear twice.

Now LSA owns brand and high-intent service terms in each service area, and search owns everything exploratory. The two never bid on the same query, and the split is checked monthly rather than assumed.

We also stopped counting a call as a lead. A call is a call. A lead is a call that resulted in a scheduled visit, which means the booking system has to hand that fact back to the ad platform. Until it does, you are optimising toward whoever answers the phone the fastest, not toward the jobs that pay.

Six locations, one structure, one definition of a lead. That combination did more than any bid strategy we tried.