Is Google Migrating Local Services Ads Into Performance Max in 2026?

Yes — Google began migrating Local Services Ads into a specialized version of Performance Max built around pay-per-lead goals, starting in August 2026 with select US home and storefront service advertisers across nine trades, including plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and roofing.

What's Actually Moving

This isn't a simple interface refresh. Google is retiring the standalone Local Services Ads dashboard for migrated accounts and folding campaign management into the Google Ads Performance Max interface, while preserving the pay-per-lead pricing model that distinguishes Local Services Ads from standard Performance Max campaigns. Advertisers in the first wave manage their "Local Services" campaigns inside the same Google Ads account and interface used for their other Performance Max campaigns, rather than in a separate portal.

Who's in the First Wave

The initial rollout targets select US advertisers in home and storefront service categories specifically, spanning nine trades reported to include plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and roofing. Categories requiring advanced verification, and accounts outside the supported regions, are directed to keep managing campaigns through the legacy Local Services Ads portal at g.co/localservices until their own migration phase arrives.

What Comes Later

Coverage of the rollout describes a phased timeline beyond the first wave: broader groups of categories follow later in 2026, with non-US accounts and the remaining categories not covered in earlier phases moving in 2027. Law firms are specifically called out as not included in the first wave, despite being one of the largest Local Services Ads categories by spend, which means PPC-managed legal advertisers should not expect their campaign structure to change on the same August 2026 timeline as home service trades.

Why This Matters Beyond the Interface Change

Folding Local Services Ads into Performance Max's campaign architecture means the automated bidding, asset management, and signal-based targeting that define Performance Max now sit underneath a lead-generation product that previously ran on its own simpler, more manually controlled system. Advertisers used to the standalone Local Services Ads dashboard's relatively limited controls should expect the migrated version to inherit more of Performance Max's automation, and correspondingly less direct control over where and how budget gets allocated.

The Pay-Per-Lead Model Carries Over

One detail worth underlining: Google is preserving the pay-per-lead pricing structure that has always separated Local Services Ads from the rest of Performance Max, which is normally priced on clicks or conversions rather than qualified leads. Advertisers migrated into this specialized version aren't being moved into a generic Performance Max campaign with Local Services branding — they're getting a distinct Performance Max campaign type that keeps the lead-based billing intact while changing the surrounding management interface and automation.

How to Check Your Own Migration Status

Since the rollout is phased by category, region, and verification requirements rather than applying to every account at once, the only reliable way to confirm where a specific account stands is inside the account itself: check whether a Local Services campaign now appears inside the Performance Max section of Google Ads, or whether the business is still being directed to the legacy g.co/localservices portal. Industry coverage of the rollout has not published a complete, authoritative list of every migrated category and date, so in-account notices from Google remain the most reliable signal for any individual business.

Bottom Line

If your business falls into one of the nine migrated home or storefront trades in the US, check your Google Ads account for a Local Services campaign now living inside Performance Max rather than a separate dashboard; if you're in an unmigrated category like legal services, confirm your migration timing before assuming your current Local Services Ads workflow is about to change.

Source: Location3, "Google Announces End of Local Services Ads Dashboard" (location3.com); TechWyse, "Google Retires Standalone Local Services Ads Dashboard and Forces Local Inventory Ads On by Default Starting August 2026" (techwyse.com); Relevant Audience, "Google Local Services Ads dashboard merging into the Google Ads Performance Max interface" (relevantaudience.com).