News & Notes on Google Local Services Ads: September 2022

The latest info from the Google Partner newsletter is in! Check out this post to learn more about important changes and updates to Google Local Services Ads that may impact your law firm.

Approximate Read Time: 2 Minutes

Google recently sent out another edition of its partner newsletter and we are back with more highlights, straight from Google, that may impact your law firm’s search engine marketing strategy and LSA campaigns. Keep reading to learn more!

New: Updated Zip Code and Service Area Selector Interface

Google recently launched a new zip code and service area selection interface that is more similar to traditional Google Ads in how it allows law firms and others running Google Local Services Ads to target locations. With this interface, advertisers can better select certain geographic targets to include and exclude from their LSA location targeting.

Reminder: Google Still Testing Single Business LSAs

In a change that is intended primarily to help advertisers in new verticals or underrepresented areas, Google continues to test a mobile feature allowing a single business LSA to appear in search results, even if the 2+ business rule is not met. The test is ongoing globally and across all verticals.

If you are unfamiliar with the 2+ business rule, it is the typical LSAs requirement that two businesses in your industry and location must have completed the onboarding process and be currently running local services ads for LSAs to be shown on the mobile search engine results page. However, with this change, a single LSA can be served in mobile search results.

New: Messaging Responsiveness Scores Being Displayed

Messaging leads are an additional way for consumers to reach out to providers running LSAs. In the case of a law firm, potential clients could use messaging to contact the firm, rather than using a more traditional contact method, such as calling. Google wants to encourage more users to take advantage of the messaging feature and will now display qualifying providers’ average response times in mobile ads.

This new feature only applies to providers with at least two leads in the last 90 days. In order to better determine the average response time, Google will only look at messaging leads and response times in the last 90 days.

Notably, weekend messages and other messages sent outside of your standard business hours are included in this calculation. However, if your average response time is greater than 24 hours, it will not be displayed with your listing.

Final Thoughts: Why Do You Care?

As Google Local Services Ads continue to evolve, legal marketers need to stay informed about the latest trends and best practices to maximize their ad potential and better connect with new clients. If you need help with optimizing your LSAs, contact our Justia Amplify team to learn more about our PPC management services.

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