LSA lead quality management
Stop paying for junk Local Service Ads leads.
LSA lead dispute management changed in July 2024, when Google ended manual disputes and started crediting bad leads on its own. For Dallas home service businesses, we review and rate every lead each week, track the credits Google issues and fix the settings that let junk in.
The problem
Every lead costs the same. Not every lead is a job.
Local Service Ads charge you per lead. That sounds fair until you open the lead list on a Monday morning. A robocall about your “business listing.” A homeowner in Waxahachie when your trucks stop at Lancaster. Someone asking for a pool builder when you fix AC. A tenant who wanted the landlord’s number. Each one got billed like a real service call.
Google does credit some bad leads, like spam and robocalls, and since July 2024 it does that on its own. There’s no dispute button anymore. But the credits only cover what Google decides is invalid. A lead for a job type you don’t offer, or from an area you don’t serve, isn’t credited at all. Google treats that as a settings problem. So unless someone rates the leads and fixes the settings, the junk just gets paid for, month after month.
Over a month that adds up. A few bad leads a week at your trade’s cost per lead is real money, and it quietly makes LSA look worse than it is. The fix is a routine, not a heroic cleanup once a quarter.
What we do
Lead quality work, every week.
- A weekly review of every charged lead. We go through every call recording and message you were billed for that week. Not a sample. Every one.
- Every lead rated. We use “Rate this lead” in your account on every lead, good and bad, and answer Google’s feedback survey honestly. It’s the only direct input Google takes now, and it helps Google learn what a good lead looks like for you.
- Automatic credits tracked. Google credits invalid leads on its own, usually within 30 days. We check each lead’s status so you can see what came back. The original charge stays on your invoice even after a credit, so the bill alone won’t tell you.
- Job types and service areas tightened. Leads for work you don’t do or areas you don’t serve aren’t credited anymore. If junk keeps coming from one job type or one ZIP code, we switch it off so you stop paying for leads you can’t take.
- Lead outcomes logged. Each lead gets tagged: booked, quoted, lost, or junk. That’s how we know your real cost per booked job, not just your cost per lead.
- Reviews and response times kept strong. Google weighs your reviews and how fast you answer when it decides who shows first. We watch both so you stay high in the auction without overpaying for it.
- A simple monthly report. Leads charged, leads credited, booked jobs and cost per booked job, side by side with the rest of your Local Service Ads numbers.
How the weekly routine runs.
First week
We look back at your recent lead history, sort it into good, junk and gray, and switch off the job types and areas that keep sending leads you can’t take.
Every Monday
We review last week’s charged leads, listen to the calls, read the messages and log what happened with each one.
Same day
We rate each lead in your account and fix any setting a bad lead points to. Google won’t credit wrong-trade or out-of-area leads, so the fix can’t wait.
Every month
We check what Google credited, trim the job types, areas and hours that keep producing junk and report the money saved next to booked jobs.
LSA lead quality
Why LSA lead quality work pays for itself.
Automatic credits get back some of what you paid for spam. Lead quality work stops you from buying the bad leads Google won’t credit. You need both, and most accounts get neither.
Manual disputes ended in July 2024
Google used to let you dispute a charged lead and pick a reason. In July 2024 it replaced that with automated lead credits. Its models now review every lead, skip the charge on many invalid ones and credit others later, usually within 30 days, according to Google’s help article About automated Local Services Ads lead credits (opens in new tab). You can’t file a dispute anymore, so advice that sends you looking for a “Dispute” button is out of date. If you’d rather handle it yourself, our guide on how to dispute Local Service Ads leads walks through what to do now.
Rating leads is the input you have
Today the one direct lever is “Rate this lead.” Rating every lead, booked jobs included, tells Google what a good lead looks like for your business, and Google lists feedback credits among the ways a lead can end up credited. That’s why we rate weekly instead of whenever the bill looks high. Google can change this process again, so we follow its current help pages and adjust when it does.
Most junk starts in your settings
A plumber who leaves “sewer line replacement” switched on but doesn’t do sewer work will keep paying for those calls. A roofer whose service area runs past where the crews will drive gets leads from Ennis and Corsicana. An HVAC company with hours set to 24/7 but no one answering at 2 a.m. gets missed calls that Google still counts. Google no longer credits leads for job types or areas you don’t serve, so fixing job types, service areas and hours is the only way to stop paying for them. That tuning is the core of our LSA optimization work, and lead review tells us exactly what to tune.
Not every bad lead is creditable
Price shoppers, tire kickers and homeowners who booked someone else are frustrating, but they’re real people asking about your service. Google generally doesn’t credit those. What we can do is spot the patterns behind them, like a job type that draws mostly price shoppers, and decide with you whether it’s worth keeping on.
Answering the phone is part of lead quality
Google counts how quickly you respond, and a missed call can still be a charged lead. In Dallas summers, when every AC company in DFW is slammed by 9 a.m., the shop that picks up wins the job and the better placement. We flag missed calls in the weekly review so you can see where the office is losing work.
What we won’t do
- Rate real customers as junk just to chase a credit.
- Promise a set number or percentage of credits. Google decides what gets credited.
- Tell you there’s a dispute to file or a deadline to beat. Credits are automatic now, and the process is Google’s to change.
LSA lead credit questions
Can I get a refund for bad Local Service Ads leads?
Not a refund, and not by filing a dispute anymore. Since July 2024 Google reviews leads automatically, often skips the charge on invalid ones and credits others to your account, usually within 30 days. Leads for job types you don’t offer or areas you don’t serve are no longer credited. We rate every lead weekly, track what Google credits and tighten your settings so you stop paying for leads you can’t take.
Which LSA leads usually don’t qualify for credit?
Real homeowners asking about a service you offer, inside your area, generally count as valid leads, even if they only wanted a price or booked someone else. Calls you missed usually count too. Since July 2024, leads for job types or areas you don’t serve aren’t credited either. We use all of these to adjust job types, service areas, hours and budget so you buy fewer of them.
How many local service ads lead credits will I get back?
The big factors are your trade, your settings and how much junk your account draws, and Google decides what gets credited. We won’t promise a number. What we can promise is that every charged lead gets reviewed and rated every week, and we track every credit Google issues. Most of the long-term savings come from fixing settings, not from credits.
Do you only handle lead quality, or the whole LSA account?
Lead review is part of our full Local Service Ads management, alongside verification, bids, budget and review strategy, because the fixes it finds live in the account settings. If you want to see how much junk your account is paying for right now, contact us and we’ll look at it on a discovery call.