How-to · Updated October 11, 2026
Track Local Services Ads leads in your own lead log
Updated October 11, 2026
20 minutes, then 10 minutes a week
Copy every lead from Google's Local Services lead list into your own log each week, and match call leads to your phone history by number and time. Expect Google's charged count to be lower than your rows: leads marked Not charged, In review or Credited drop out, and credits can land weeks later.
Before you start
- Access to Google's lead list. That is the Local Services Ads account, or Google Ads if your account has already moved there.
- Your own lead log, a spreadsheet or CRM with columns for the source, the caller's number, the date and time, and the lead type.
- Your phone system's call history, with the caller's number and the time of each call.
- Where your account lives now. Google began moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads, as Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals, in August 2026 for some US advertisers, with more in late 2026 and non-US accounts in 2027.
Open Google's lead list
Google's lead list is the only record that holds every Local Services lead, including messages and bookings that never ring a phone.
- If your account has not moved yet, sign in to the Local Services Ads account and open its Leads section.
- If it has moved, open Google Ads, click the Goals icon, open Conversions and select Leads. Google says this table replaces the old lead inbox and that your past leads carry over to it.
- For each lead, note the contact date, the customer's name and phone number, the job type, the Lead Type (call, message or booking) and, in Google Ads, the Charge Status. Google says the customer name can be blank for some calls and messages, and that in Google Ads a message lead shows a Google forwarding number with an extension instead of the customer's own number, so log its name, ZIP code and job details too.
- Copy the week's leads into your log. Google says the Leads page in Google Ads lets you download leads to import into your own CRM; copy by hand where your view offers no download.
Before a move, save the Reports page from the old account: Google says past leads carry over to Google Ads but the old performance reports do not, and suggests screenshots if a download is not yet offered.
Match each lead to a call or message
A Local Services call reaches your normal line through a Google forwarding number, so the caller's number and the time are what tie Google's lead to your own record.
- Ask whoever answers the phone to listen for Call from Google before the caller is connected. That announcement marks a call from the ad. Google says it may not play when the business number uses call forwarding or VoIP.
- For each call lead in Google's list, find the call in your phone history by the caller's number and time, and mark the row as matched. If your phone history shows a Google number instead of the caller's, match on the time and the Call from Google announcement.
- Log a repeat call or message on the lead you already have when it comes from the same number or email within 15 days of your last contact. Once a lead is charged, Google does not charge again for that follow-up; after 15 days with no contact, a new call or message is a new lead.
- Back in Google's list, mark the lead as booked when it turns into a job: Mark Booked on the lead in the old inbox (US and Canada only), or the Booked or Completed status on the Leads page in Google Ads.
Reconcile the counts once a month
Your log will hold more Local Services rows than Google's charged count, and the charge status of each lead explains the difference.
- Count the month's Local Services rows by charge status. In Google Ads the Charge Status column reads Charged, Not charged, In review or Credited; in the old account, Google says the Billing menu in the leads inbox shows what you were charged.
- Compare your charged rows with Google's figure for the same dates. In the old account, Reports splits charged leads by call, message and booking; after the move, Google says the campaign's Conversions column is the number of charged leads.
- Update the statuses again the next month. Google reassesses leads over 30 days and credits poor, duplicate or invalid ones automatically, so a lead charged last month can still turn to Credited.
- Expect your phone history to differ from the list in both directions: messages and booking requests never ring a phone, and repeat calls on an active lead ring without adding a lead.
- Judge the ads by booked jobs in your log against what Google charged, not by either lead count alone.
Check it worked
After the first week, every lead in Google's list should have a row in your log with its source set to Local Services, and every call lead should appear once per lead, however many times that customer rang while the lead was active.
After a month, your Charged rows should equal Google's charged count for the same dates, and every other row should read Not charged, In review or Credited. A gap you cannot explain that way usually means a lead was not copied, or its status changed after you copied it.
Can the ads ring a call tracking number instead?
Google's Local Services help says the business phone number your calls are routed to must not be a tracking number, and that changing it is done through support. The number shown on the ad is already a Google forwarding number that changes often, and there is no way to choose it.
After the move to Google Ads, Google says the number leads are routed to can be edited in campaign settings and can differ from the Business Profile's number. Its pages do not say whether a tracking number is now allowed, so ask Google support before pointing the ads at one.
How long Google keeps recordings and messages
Google says call recordings and sensitive conversation history are kept in the Lead Manager in Google Ads for up to 30 days, while its migration page says lead history moved from the old account stays on the Leads page. Copy anything you need into your own records each week rather than relying on the lead list to hold it.