Exclusive leads.In plain English.

Leads from your own Google profile, site and ads are exclusive by nature, which is why owning those channels matters. Google says you'll keep receiving calls from your Business Profile, though it no longer keeps a call history there, so track those calls yourself.

Local Services Ads sit in between. You pay for valid leads such as answered calls, messages and bookings, and the customer contacts your business directly, but Google prices message leads partly on whether the customer also contacted other Local Services advertisers.

They still need a fast reply. Local Services Ads charge for a missed call during business hours if the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds, so an unanswered phone can cost you a lead and its fee.

Google re-checks charged Local Services leads and usually credits invalid ones to your account within 30 days. Google is also moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads as Performance Max pay-per-lead campaigns.

Example: a garage door company's website, Business Profile and Google Ads bring in 40 calls a month that no other company sees. Answering every one matters more than buying more shared leads.