Local Ads vs Google Ads: Major Differences & Benefits

Google Ads vs Local Services Ads : All the big differences you shoud know

Local service ads vs Google ads. The big question that many, especially small, businesses have. Where should I invest my limited time and budget and what should I expect in return? The answer to these questions is a bit more complicated than we would like. There are some factors you need to consider before allocating your money, team, and labor to either one. Like, what’s your business type? What’s your audience? Do you aim for a local client base or a wider one? Do you need clicks, store visits, or phone leads? Planning a search marketing campaign is not as simple as it seems.

Although both are a Google product, local service ads and regular Google ads have many differences and serve different purposes. In this article, we are going to explore them in more detail in this article and make some strategy suggestions as well.

Local Service Ads: Focused Ads for Service Businesses

If you have a plumbing business, a pet grooming shop, or are a lawyer, chances are that you operate on a local level. With that, we mean that you are mostly looking for clients from your city or district. You might be an excellent electrician, but we doubt someone from a different country would book an appointment with you for a broken plug.

Local service ads, as the name implies, are ads optimized for service businesses that work on a local scale. They are ideal for businesses like:

They offer benefits like top placement on Google search results, increased lead generation, and display of important business information, like services offered, hours of operation, customer reviews, contact details, etc.

We have created a full guide on Local Service Ads and how they work.

🔥 If you want to learn more about Local Service Ads check out 👉 Local Service Ads & How to Grow With Them

Local Service Ads vs Google Ads: The Big Showdown

Alright, now it’s the time you’ve been waiting for! The big rumble in the jungle. Let’s take a closer look at Google Ads vs Local Service Ads, see their differences, and how each can benefit your business. 

Audience & Reach

Take a look at the next two pictures. The first one is from Google Ads and the second is for a local service ad.

Local service ads vs google ads mapping
Local service ads vs google ads mapping

You don’t need to be an expert in geography to notice where they differ. Regular Google Ads can have a reach as wide or narrow as you wish. You can set them on a radius of a few blocks, or whole continents. The world is your limit, literally. You can reach an audience of a few thousand to billions of people. But this kind of shotgun targeting will probably only end up eating into your budget while yielding you with a disproportionate amount of leads.

On the other hand, local service ads, as their name implies, are meant for a local audience. A few blocks around your business, a few counties, streets, a town or city, you get the gist. They are meant for an audience you can physically reach in a reasonable amount of time. No one will book an electrician from 500 kilometers away, no matter how good they are. Their plug is broken and they want it fixed now. And surely no one will drive two countries away for a good business lawyer. Local ads for local service.

Placement

Google Ads appear at the top of search results and have a small badge next to them to signify they are an advertisement and not an organic search result. This spot is not bad, but it doesn’t catch the eye of users. If anything, they tend to ignore it because they know they are ads (there is a big Sponsored tag above them) and people in general are distrustful of ads. This doesn’t mean that Google Ads don’t work. They do, but you need a greater volume of people for them to matter.

Sponsored ads

In contrast, local service ads appear even further above regular Google ads. They have their own very special section and the Sponsored tag doesn’t stand out as much. They also include pictures, business info, and ways to reach them immediately. Users don’t even need to click on them. They are much more attractive than regular ads.

Also, check out the local service ads below. Do you see the map? That’s a very nice complement to the ads above. Most users, no matter how easy it is, will not rush to pick a business. They will search around a little bit. That map below though makes the decision process much easier, since it includes reviews as well. Professionals and businesses with high ratings and great reviews can benefit greatly from that. Just make sure to include your business in Google Maps.

🔥 You can check our Guide here 👉 How to Optimize Google Local Service Ads for Maximum ROI

Budgeting 

Google Ads works with the PPC model, meaning you have to pay every time someone clicks on the ad. Clicks have a very low conversion rate, usually at single-digit numbers, although exceptions do exist. You set the budget and Google tries to allocate it as best as possible throughout a period, to attract as many clicks as possible.

Local service ads, on the other hand, charge per lead. PPL, pay per lead. You get charged every time someone reaches you through your ad, not just when someone clicks on it. The price is higher of course, but so is the conversion rate. Remember what we told you above. Local service ads target a top-of-the-funnel audience, more ready to make a decision and pay. Although the price tag of every lead might seem steep at first, you will realize in the long run that local service ad leads are cheaper. You will see how in the next sections.

Lead Cost & Management

In Google Ads you pay for every click you get no matter what. Even if it was an accidental click that bounced immediately, you still have to pay. The cost is typically low but it can quickly stack up and if your campaign isn’t successful, you could end up losing quite a bit of money. 

In local service ads on the other side, you only pay for every successful lead you get. When a user calls or sends a message through one of your ads, then and only then you get charged. But there are still some prerequisites. The call must be over 30 seconds long and if a lead didn’t convert, then you can always dispute it and avoid paying for it.

Lead summary page in local service ads

The cost per lead can be vastly higher than the cost per click you pay in regular ads. However, local service ads bring in more high-value leads that are easier to convert and require less hassle. You avoid lots of the costs you otherwise would have to cover with regular ads and thus the final cost per lead can be much lower.

Setting Up & Running

Most people aren’t well-versed in ads and marketing. Setting up Google Ads is not that hard, you can do it by watching a few tutorials or reading a couple of blog posts. But “running” them is a lot harder. You need to know how to read data, how to strategize, and what to do to optimize them. For a busy professional, dedicating the time and mental bandwidth is not always an option and this is why most prefer to work with an agency.

Local service ads are a world of difference in that matter. You can still work with an agency if you wish, but it’s not necessary, even if you are a newbie in ads. Local service ads are much easier to set up, monitor, and optimize. 

The interface is much cleaner and simple to use. Check below the Google Ads and local service ads interfaces and see for yourself.

Google Ads dashboard
Local service ads dashboard

Big difference right? Much less threatening to a newbie. And to top it all off, you don’t need to do any keyword research as we said above, you don’t need any copywriting skills, and optimizing them is so much easier. If you insist on working with agencies, you will discover that they charge much less for local service ads since they are easier to set up and require less monitoring.

Keywords

In Google Ads, you are responsible for keyword research. You can use tools, AI, and other methods, but in the end, it’s you who chooses which keywords to target. It’s up to you to use terms that are relevant to your product or service and can bring leads to your business.

In local service ads, Google does the heavy lifting for you. You only need to choose your business type, product, and service and Google will choose the appropriate keywords. This saves you a lot of time and simplifies this process, but it does come with some drawbacks. You don’t have control over your keywords and that leaves kinda in Google’s mercy. Don’t get us wrong, it mostly works well, but as you can see below, Google sometimes misses, especially when it comes to long tail keywords.

Long tail keyword search in google

You are still going to get leads, but you might miss out on some low-hanging fruit. Long tail keywords don’t have the same search volume as smaller ones, but they can still drive some leads to you because of their low competitiveness. You don’t even need a website, since customers can call or text you directly.

Google Guaranteed & Google Screened

Customers tend to be cautious when it comes to choosing a professional or business to work with. They go through reviews, ask their friends for suggestions, and generally are on the lookout for signs of trustworthiness.

Google Ads don’t offer much in that regard. There are the reviews from Google Maps maybe and that’s it. But, local service ads shine in this domain thanks to the Google Guaranteed and Google Screened badges.

Google Screened appears as a green checkmark above the ad. They add another layer of credibility to your business and make you seem more legit. To be Google Screened, your business needs to pass a background check. You must provide proof of business registration, insurance, licensing, and other documents. Once the background check is complete, businesses must then pass a Google-conducted interview. The badge will appear automatically once the process is complete.

Local service ads with the Google Screened badge

Google Guaranteed is pretty similar and the process is more or less the same. The difference here is that Google loans you its credibility in a way. If you go to a customer’s house to do some landscaping and you end up turning their garden into a desert because you used the wrong pesticide, then Google will step in and cover the damages for up to 2000$. The badge is similar to Google Screened but it appears within your rectangle and its more visible.

Local service ads with the Google Guaranteed badge

Scalability

For the whole of the article, we’ve made it seem like Google Ads are worthless. But, that’s not true. Both Google Ads and local service ads are tools and each tool has its use. Local service ads are great for starters and local businesses. They have a problem though. You can’t really scale with them

Google Ads are completely under your control. You can expand or minimize your reach. Switch keywords in and out. Target different audiences or change the copy and visual elements. Thus, you have a greater say in the direction you want your marketing campaigns to go. You can grow them as you grow too.

Local service ads are much simpler but you don’t get a lot of say in them once you set them up. Google chooses the keywords it will display them for and you can’t really do anything about it. You will still get leads, but if you want to grow further then you can’t do anything other than expanding your service areas. 

Call Tracking in Google Ads & Local Service Ads

We’ve talked about the differences between Google Ads and local service ads. Now it’s time to talk about a similarity they share. The effect call tracking can have on them.

Call Tracking Definition

Call tracking refers to the technology that enables the monitoring and recording of inbound phone calls. It’s essentially a system that uncovers how callers discovered your business. By assigning unique phone numbers to different marketing channels, Marketers can pinpoint which ads, campaigns, or search keywords are generating calls. This data is critical because it shows you what’s working in your marketing strategy and what’s not.

💡 For the complete Call Tracking Guide, check out this step-by-step guide.

Call tracking is crucial for both Google Ads and local service ads, even though they offer different levels of detail. Google Ads allow you to pinpoint exactly which keywords, ad copy, and landing pages are driving the most valuable phone calls. This empowers you to optimize your campaigns, maximize your budget on high-performing elements, and ultimately generate more qualified leads. 

Local service ads, while providing basic call volume data, still benefit from call tracking. It helps you understand the overall effectiveness of the platform in generating phone inquiries and allows you to compare it with other marketing efforts. Whether you crave deep campaign insights or a simple lead generation metric, call tracking in both Google Ads and Local Service Ads provides valuable data for making informed decisions about your local marketing strategy.

Nimbata Call Tracking

Nimbata Call Tracking homepage

Nimbata is a well-rounded call tracking solution that will give you a plethora of tools and data to not only monitor your ad campaigns but optimize them as well. With Nimbata you can:

  1. Create smooth call flows that guide your leads and customers to your proper customer service agent
  2. Record and transcribe your calls
  3. Tag your calls with custom tags for better lead management
  4. Generate summaries that condense all the important information in a few sentences
  5. Create call greetings, whispers, surveys, and voicemails
  6. Cap the number of calls from specific ads and gain better control of your budget
  7. Design Automations that will save you time and money!

Conclusion

As we saw in the article, Google Ads and local service ads have many differences. They still serve the same purpose though. They are there to promote your business and help you grow. So, the real question isn’t whether to use one or the other, but what is the best way to combine them?

If you prioritize local customers with immediate needs (e.g., “plumber near me”), local service ads offer premium placement, Google trust badges, and a pay-per-lead model perfect for high-converting leads. But when it’s time to scale and reach a wider audience, you need Google Ads. So, learning how to put both into action can be a huge boost for your business.