Guide · lsa · lead-credits · measurement
What Google may treat as a valid LSA lead, how automated credits work, and why a credited lead is not automatically a booked or profitable job.
A Local Services Ads lead can be valid under Google’s billing rules and still be a poor business outcome. Those are two different questions: was the lead chargeable under Google’s current lead rules, and was the lead useful, qualified, booked, completed, and economically sensible for the business?
The short answer
Google says advertisers pay for valid leads, that it assesses leads when the potential customer makes initial contact, that leads determined to be invalid or low quality are not charged, and that charged leads may later be reassessed and automatically credited if Google determines they were low quality. Google lists lead types including messages, certain voicemail or meaningful automated interactions, answered calls, certain returned missed calls, and booking requests in supported markets. Treat Google’s credit state as a billing record. Treat your own CRM, calendar, dispatch, invoice, and call notes as the business-outcome record. Do not use the words valid, qualified, booked, and profitable as though they mean the same thing.
Google may classify a lead as not charged, charged, in review, or credited. Your business still needs to record whether the person wanted a service you provide, lived in a workable service area, spoke with your team, booked the work, completed the job, and paid.
Google’s current automated-credit documentation describes these states.
| Lead state | What it means | What it does not mean |
|---|---|---|
| Not charged | Google sent a lead that was not charged from the outset, potentially because of low quality or duplication | That the business process worked or that the contact had no value |
| Charged | The lead was charged when received | That the lead booked or was profitable |
| In review | Google is reviewing the lead | That a credit is guaranteed or immediate |
| Credited | A previously charged lead received a credit | That the business lost no time, capacity, or sales opportunity |
The report state answers a platform-billing question. It does not answer the business question of whether the lead became work.
Google says its models assess lead quality when the customer initially makes contact, and that charged leads may be reassessed over time and may receive automatic credits if later determined to be low quality. Google also says some poor-quality leads may be processed through automated credits within the first 24 hours, and in most cases credits are applied to the account balance within 30 days while the original charge may still appear on the invoice.
Do not plan cash flow as though every questionable lead will be credited immediately. Record the original charge, the current state, and the eventual credit separately.
Google’s lead guidance says valid leads can be generated when customers find the Local Services ad and make certain kinds of contact. Examples listed by Google include:
The exact eligibility and credit rules depend on the current product, market, lead type, vertical, and account conditions. A contact that does not become a job is not automatically invalid.
Keep a separate business classification alongside the platform state.
| Business classification | Definition |
|---|---|
| Platform-valid or charged | The lead is recorded under Google’s current billing state |
| Business-relevant | The request relates to a service the business can provide |
| Serviceable | The requested job is in an area and time window the business can handle |
| Qualified | The business confirmed enough information to treat the contact as a real opportunity |
| Booked | A date, time, or defined commitment is recorded in the calendar, CRM, or dispatch system |
| Completed | The work was delivered |
| Paid | The business confirms collection or payment |
| Unknown | The outcome cannot be verified |
A charged lead can be relevant but not booked. A booked job can cancel. A completed job can have weak contribution. A lead can be credited while the owner still lost time trying to reach the customer.
Preserve the platform record
For every lead, record the lead ID or platform reference, the date and time, the lead type (call, message, voicemail, or booking), the charge amount, the current state (not charged, charged, in review, or credited), the service shown or requested, and the customer contact information available. Take an export or screenshot when the state matters for month-end reconciliation.
Record the actual customer request
Write the service the customer asked for, not only the category selected in the account. "Emergency drain clearing" may fit; "buy a drain snake" may not fit a service-only plumber. Do not label a service mismatch invalid for credit without checking the current rules, because Google says job-type mismatch credits are no longer supported.
Record geography and practical serviceability
Record the requested job address or area separately from the platform label, and mark it serviceable, potentially serviceable after review, not serviceable, or unknown. A lead outside the practical operating area may be a real customer request and still be unusable, and "geo not serviced" is not a supported credit category.
Record contact handling
Record whether the business answered the call, received a voicemail, returned a missed call, responded to the message, reached the customer, left a voicemail, or scheduled a follow-up. Do not classify an unanswered call as a bad lead before checking whether the business had a workable response process.
Record the business outcome
Use the same definitions every month: unqualified, qualified enquiry, quote or estimate only, booked job, canceled booking, completed job, paid job, or unknown. The outcome belongs in the call log, CRM, calendar, dispatch system, invoice record, or owner-confirmed Ledger.
Submit feedback where appropriate
Google says advertisers can rate leads through the Lead Feedback Survey and that feedback helps Google understand which leads are wanted and may occasionally result in a credit. Feedback is not a substitute for account configuration; if unwanted leads continue, review service areas, job types, and categories, noting that changing them can reduce lead volume.
LSA lead-review evidence checklist
0 of 12Platform and contact
Outcome and billing
A cleaning company receives 12 LSA contacts during a defined month.
| Lead state or outcome | Count |
|---|---|
| Total contacts shown in lead report | 12 |
| Not charged at initial assessment | 1 |
| Charged at initial assessment | 11 |
| Later credited | 2 |
| Remaining net charged leads after credits | 9 |
| Business-relevant requests | 8 |
| Qualified enquiries | 7 |
| Booked jobs | 4 |
| Completed paid jobs | 3 |
| Confirmed revenue | $900.00 |
The net lead charge must come from the account’s actual billing record. For this worked example, assume the 9 net charged leads cost $270.00 in total.
Net cost per booked job = $270.00 ÷ 4 = $67.50
Net cost per completed paid job = $270.00 ÷ 3 = $90.00
The credit improved the billing result. It did not turn the other five non-booked contacts into customers. If the owner states a 40% contribution margin:
Estimated contribution = $900.00 × 40% = $360.00
That is an estimated contribution figure, not verified net profit. It must be compared with the defined acquisition cost and any additional management, tracking, or sales costs in the owner’s model.
Classify the problem before choosing the response.
| Problem | First response |
|---|---|
| Duplicate contact | Preserve both records, check whether the system already marks one not charged or credited, and deduplicate the business record |
| Spam or obvious non-customer contact | Record the evidence, rate the lead if the survey is available, and monitor its credit state |
| Service not offered | Record the mismatch, review account categories and job types, and do not assume current credit eligibility |
| Area not served | Record the location, review service-area settings, and do not assume current credit eligibility |
| Missed call | Return it using the operating process and record the outcome before calling it poor quality |
| Real enquiry that did not book | Analyse price, availability, trust, response, qualification, and sales handling; it may be a valid but unsuccessful opportunity |
| Booked then canceled | Record the cancellation reason and separate booking from completed work |
| Completed but low-margin | Review service-line economics and capacity; a valid lead can still be economically weak |
A credit means the platform billing record changed. It does not prove the business received enough qualified opportunities, that calls were answered, that jobs booked or completed, or that contribution covered the acquisition cost. Keep a monthly table that records gross lead charges, credits, and net lead charges from billing; the platform lead count from the lead report; business-relevant contacts and qualified enquiries from owner classification; booked jobs from the calendar or CRM; completed paid jobs from the dispatch and payment record; confirmed revenue; estimated contribution at the stated margin; an explicit count of unknown outcomes; and a verdict of continue, adjust, reduce, pause, or stop.
Google says advertisers set an average weekly budget based on the average number of leads desired, that the account can spend more than the average weekly budget in a given week while remaining within the monthly maximum, and that each received lead counts toward the budget. The LSA budget guide covers lead credits at a summary level; this is the deep page for the credit rules and the lead-review workflow.
Credits matter for billing reconciliation, but they do not automatically restore the time, capacity, or response opportunity consumed by a poor contact. Set the budget based on the number of leads the business can handle and the acquisition cost it can justify, not only on the number of leads the platform can send.
The Profit Ledger
Google's credit state reconciles billing. It cannot decide whether the lead was worth the owner's time or whether the completed work produced contribution. A credited lead is not a booked job. I count conservatively. Every untracked job is your upside, not my credit.
Disputed credits belong in next week’s budget math, not in a drawer. The LSA budget guide shows how to fold recovered spend into the weekly figure you actually commit.
Google says advertisers pay for valid leads and lists several possible lead types, including messages, certain voicemail or meaningful automated interactions, answered calls, certain returned missed calls, and booking requests in supported markets. The exact eligibility depends on the current product, market, lead type, vertical, and account conditions. A lead can be valid under Google's billing rules and still be a poor business outcome.
Google's automated-credit documentation describes not charged, charged, in review, and credited. Not charged means Google sent a lead it did not bill for, often for low quality or duplication. Charged means the lead was billed on receipt. In review means Google is assessing it. Credited means a previously charged lead received a credit. The state answers a billing question, not whether the lead became work.
Google says its models assess lead quality when the customer initially makes contact, and charged leads may be reassessed over time and receive automatic credits if later determined to be low quality. Some poor-quality leads may be processed within the first 24 hours, and in most cases credits are applied to the account balance within 30 days while the original charge may still appear on the invoice.
Google's current automated-credit page says it no longer supports credits for "job type not serviced" and "geo not serviced" leads. If the business receives unwanted service or location demand, the first response is not to assume a credit but to review categories, job types, service areas, hours, and business information. Google also says automated credits are not available for health care verticals, tax specialists, or advertisers in EMEA.
No. A credit means the platform billing record changed. It does not prove the business received enough qualified opportunities, that calls were answered, that customers were contacted, that jobs were booked or completed, that invoices were collected, or that contribution covered the acquisition cost. Use the credit state to reconcile billing and the business record to judge lead quality.
Google says advertisers can rate leads through the Lead Feedback Survey, and that the feedback helps Google understand which leads are wanted and may occasionally result in a credit. Feedback is not a substitute for account configuration. If unwanted leads continue, review service areas, job types, and categories, noting that Google warns changing these settings can reduce lead volume.
Not necessarily. A credit lowers the billing charge, but the business may still have spent time and capacity trying to reach the customer. Record the original charge, the current state, and the eventual credit separately, and mark the business outcome as unknown when it cannot be verified rather than assuming the credit erased the cost.
Google says advertisers set an average weekly budget based on the average number of leads desired. The account can spend more than the weekly budget in a given week, within the monthly maximum. Each received lead counts toward the budget. Credits matter for billing reconciliation, but they do not restore the time or capacity consumed by a poor contact. Set the budget on the number of leads the business can handle and the acquisition cost it can justify.
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