There is no dispute button for Local Services Ads anymore. Here is what Google still credits.
Google's old dispute page now redirects to its automatic-credits page. Calls for work you don't do or from towns you don't serve are no longer credited, and a lead rating only occasionally earns a bonus credit, which is capped.
TL;DR
- You can't dispute a Local Services Ads lead the old way. On September 24, 2026, the help article Google still links as "How to dispute charges" redirected to its page on automated lead credits, and none of the Local Services help pages we read describes a dispute form. Google's models reassess charged leads and may credit the ones they later judge low quality, in most cases within 30 days.
- Google "no longer supports credits" for "job type not serviced" and "geo not serviced" leads: a call for work you don't do, or from a town you don't serve, is no longer credited for that reason. Google's "How leads work" page lists nine more situations it won't credit, plus one for law firms.
- What you can still do per lead is the "Rate this lead" survey. Google says it may "occasionally" credit leads reported there. Its developer documentation calls that a bonus credit, says it arrives in about two months, and lists "reached the bonus credit cap" as a reason for refusing one.
- In our reading, with those two reasons gone, your job types, broad search setting and service areas are the main way to stop paying for wrong-trade and out-of-area calls.
- Credits go to your account balance. The original charge stays on the invoice.
Can you still dispute a Local Services Ads lead?
Not through anything Google documents today. We checked on September 24, 2026:
- In the Local Services Help menu, the link labelled "How to dispute charges" points to "About Automated Local Services Ads lead credits".
- The "How to pay for Local Services Ads" page still lists "How to dispute charges" as a related link. It goes to an older article address (answer 7435486), which redirects to the same automated credits page.
- Google's "How leads work" page doesn't mention disputes. For a lead you think is poor quality, it sends you to the Feedback Survey for that lead.
The help pages we read end with a general "Contact us" link, which none of them describes as a way to contest a lead charge.
As reported by Search Engine Roundtable on June 25, 2024, Google told advertisers that from July 2024 automated credits would replace the manual lead credit process, that nobody could opt out, and that for most advertisers the new system would "credit the same or more leads on average".
What does Google credit on its own?
This table comes from two Local Services Help pages, "About Automated Local Services Ads lead credits" and "How leads work", read in full on September 24, 2026.
| The lead | What happens | Where Google says it |
|---|---|---|
| Judged invalid or low quality when the customer first makes contact | Not charged | Credits page |
| A duplicate | Can show as "Not charged". Google names low quality and duplicates among the reasons | Credits page |
| Charged, then judged low quality later | Credited automatically, in most cases within 30 days | Credits page |
| A poor-quality lead that got past the first check | Some are credited automatically within the first 24 hours | Credits page, note |
| Marked "In review" | "If the lead isn't a good match for your business, a credit will be applied" | Credits page |
| Reported as poor quality through "Rate this lead" | Google "may also occasionally credit" it, as a bonus credit | How leads work; credits page |
| A call or message for a job type you don't service | No longer credited | Credits page |
| A call or message from outside your service area | No longer credited | Credits page |
| Health care, tax specialists, advertisers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa | No lead credits at all | Both pages |
"How leads work" adds that automatic lead credits are available only in the United States and Canada.
Google doesn't define "low quality" on any page we read, and it doesn't reconcile the "In review" line ("isn't a good match for your business") with the end of wrong-trade and out-of-area credits. Our reading: "good match" is the model's judgment, not your job-type list. Charges, budgets and bid modes are in the full Local Services Ads guide.
Which leads won't Google credit?
"How leads work" has a list headed "Examples of leads that won't be credited". Here it is, with the call each line covers in a plumbing or HVAC shop. The examples on the right are ours, not Google's.
| Google's line, shortened | What it looks like for you |
|---|---|
| A valid lead received outside your business hours | A voicemail at 11 pm when your listed hours end at 6 |
| A customer asked for advice on a project related to a service you offer | A homeowner calling for instructions to replace a toilet flapper himself |
| A customer canceled a booking | The booking that cancels the morning of the visit |
| A customer was researching projects or prices | "Ballpark, what does a tankless install run?" and no appointment |
| A customer didn't respond to your return call or message | A missed call you returned twice with no answer |
| You listed a general service type but don't do a specific type | You list water heaters, and the call is for a tankless unit you don't install |
| You generally serve the area or offer the service but are temporarily unable or unwilling | Booked out for ten days in a heat wave, with the ad still running |
| You gave a quotation and promised a call back | A price over the phone and "we'll call you tomorrow" |
| You referred the customer to a different provider | Sending a septic pumping call to a pumping company |
The one line left out covers law firms that opted into general law leads.
Three of these lines are about your settings, not your customers: the hours you list, the job types you list, and an ad left running while you can't take the work. Google's "Manage leads and jobs" page has the pause switch for the last one. As reported by Search Engine Roundtable on August 25, 2026, Google emailed some advertisers that from October 1, 2026 a missed call during business hours is charged as a lead when the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds, with a few exceptions. The missed-call change has the details. Our pay-per-lead vendor comparison sets Google's credit rules beside Angi's and Thumbtack's.
What does "Rate this lead" actually do?
Where it is. In the Local Services Ads dashboard: the menu at top left, then Leads, then "Rate this lead" at top right, then Open.
What it asks. The help page doesn't list the questions. Google's developer reference for sending the same feedback through the Google Ads API does; the credits page links to the API guide it belongs to. We quote that reference (version 25, updated July 22, 2026).
- The rating has five steps, from very satisfied to very dissatisfied.
- Reasons for being dissatisfied: duplicate (the customer contacted you more than once), geo mismatch (outside your service area), job type mismatch (a service you don't offer), not ready to book, solicitation ("a person trying to get a job or selling a product"), spam ("from a bot, silent called, scam"), or other, which requires a written comment.
- Reasons for being satisfied: booked customer, likely to book soon, high-value service, related to your services, or other.
What comes back. When the rating is sent through the Google Ads API, Google answers it with a bonus credit decision. The help pages don't say whether the dashboard shows you one. The reference lists four outcomes:
| Outcome in Google's reference | What it means |
|---|---|
| Not eligible | No bonus credit, because "this lead is not eligible" |
| Over threshold | No bonus credit, because you have "reached the bonus credit cap" |
| Issued, cap not reached | Bonus credit issued |
| Issued, cap now reached | Bonus credit issued, and it used up what the cap allows |
An issued bonus credit "will be available for use in about two months", Google adds. That is a different clock from the 30 days for automatic credits.
Three things follow from that reference. The first is Google's; the other two are our reading:
- There is a ceiling. Google's reference refuses bonus credits once you reach the cap.
- Geo mismatch and job type mismatch are still survey reasons, although the credits page says those leads are no longer credited. Use them when they are true anyway: the credits page says survey feedback helps Google send you more of the leads that suit your business, and the survey is the only place to tell it a call was the wrong trade or the wrong town.
- Rate the good leads too. The survey has a booked-customer reason. Rate only the bad calls and Google hears nothing about the ones you want.
Where do wrong-trade and out-of-area calls come from?
In our reading, the two reasons Google stopped crediting are the two your own settings control most. The credits page points the same way: if you're getting unwanted leads, revisit your service areas, job types and categories, knowing that changes could reduce the number of leads you receive. If leads dry up after a change, the checklist for Local Services Ads with no leads covers service areas and job types among its checks.
Out-of-area calls. Google's page "About reaching customers with your Local Services Ads" says a service area reaches two groups: people estimated to be inside it when they search, and people anywhere who name a place in your service area in their search. Google's own example is someone in Los Angeles searching "repair toilet San Francisco" and seeing the ad of a business that added San Francisco to its service area. When a searcher's location is estimated only at city level, the same page says, your ad can still show in a postal code you deselected within a city on your list. In our reading, if you list a whole city when your trucks cover only part of it, you pay for calls from the rest.
Wrong-trade calls. Two settings produce them.
- Job types. Each job type you switch on makes your ad eligible for searches for that service. "How leads work" says a lead for a specific type you don't do, inside a general type you listed, won't be credited.
- Broad search. Google's page on industries, service areas and job types says Local Services Ads "automatically opts advertisers into their industry's general category", so your ad shows for "plumber near me" with no service named. Broad search leads show "-" in the Job Type column. Turning broad search off may cut leads, and in an account that runs plumbing and HVAC it stops the general searches, such as "plumber near me" and "HVAC near me", for both trades at once.
For a plumbing shop, the plumbing marketing page breaks the same demand into job types: emergency, drain, water-heater and repipe work, each with its own target.
What that costs, as an illustration. These numbers are invented; put yours in. Say your account had 90 charged leads last month at an average of $65, and 7 were calls for work you don't do and 5 came from towns your trucks don't reach. That is 12 × $65 = $780 in one month that Google no longer credits for those two reasons.
After your account moves to Google Ads
Google's migration page says lead history transfers, and that the new Leads page (Goals → Conversions → Leads) keeps the "charged" status, lead type, "a lead feedback form" and a download for your CRM. It says nothing about credits. In Google Ads, "Conversions" is the number of leads you were charged for, and Google doesn't say whether a lead credited later drops out of that count. The migration article covers the rest of the move.
Before the move, whoever manages the account can pull each lead's credit state, pending or credited, from the Google Ads API into a monthly list for you. Google's API guide ties that lead data to a Local Services campaign. It also says Performance Max campaigns can be configured as Local Services campaigns for accounts on an allowlist, but doesn't say whether the lead and credit data stays available after the move.
What this doesn't cover
- The cap. Google hasn't published its size, its period, or what makes a lead ineligible for a bonus credit.
- Wrong-trade and out-of-area ratings. Whether a rating with the geo mismatch or job type mismatch reason can still earn a bonus credit is not documented.
- The dashboard survey itself. We quote Google's developer reference for the same feedback. The labels on your screen may differ.
- How often leads get credited. This article is built from Google's pages. It doesn't report credit rates from the accounts we run.
Do this in your account
- See what you were credited. The Reports page shows the lead credits you received in the period; in Leads, look for "Credited" and "In review". Credits land in your account balance, not on the invoice line.
- Sort last month's charged leads. Mark each one: fine, wrong trade, out of area, spam, duplicate. Wrong trade plus out of area, times your average cost per lead, is what you now pay each month that Google no longer credits for wrong trade or wrong area, and your settings can cut part of it.
- Switch off job types you don't do. Profile & Budget → "Job types" card → pencil icon → expand each industry and toggle off what you don't take.
- Check broad search against your leads. In Leads, use "All search intents" and select Category; "-" in the Job Type column marks a broad search lead. If most are the wrong trade, uncheck "broad search" on the Settings card, knowing it applies to every trade in the account.
- Redraw the service area by drive time. Profile & Budget → "Service areas" card → include the zip codes or counties your trucks reach and put the rest in "Exclude these service areas".
- Pause when you're booked out. Profile & budget → the status toggle. Google won't credit leads you're temporarily unable to take.
- Rate every lead weekly, good and bad, with the true reason. Expect money back on few of them: the bonus credit is capped.
FAQ
Can you still dispute a Google LSA lead? Not with a dispute form. The article Google still links as "How to dispute charges" redirects to its page on automated credits. What remains is automatic reassessment of charged leads and the "Rate this lead" survey, which Google says may occasionally lead to a credit.
How long do Local Services Ads credits take? Google says automatic credits reach your account balance within 30 days in most cases. A bonus credit from the rating survey is available in about two months, according to Google's developer reference.
Will Google credit a call for a job I don't do? Not as a wrong-job-type credit. Google says it no longer supports credits for "job type not serviced" leads, and it doesn't say whether rating such a lead with the job type mismatch reason can still earn a bonus credit. The fix is the job types you list and the broad search setting.
Will Google credit a lead from outside my service area? Not as an out-of-area credit. "Geo not serviced" leads are no longer credited, and your service area also reaches people elsewhere who name a place on your list.
Does rating a lead get me a refund? Sometimes. Google's reference calls it a bonus credit, and it can be refused because the lead is not eligible or because you have reached the bonus credit cap. Google publishes neither the cap nor the eligibility rules.
Sources
- Local Services Help, "About Automated Local Services Ads lead credits", https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/15100654. Read in full on September 24, 2026. The quotations on credits, statuses and the invoice are from this page.
- Local Services Help, "How leads work", https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/7195435. Read in full on September 24, 2026. Source of the list of leads that won't be credited.
- Local Services Help, "How to pay for Local Services Ads", https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/7435485. Read in full on September 24, 2026. Its "How to dispute charges" link goes to answer 7435486, which we found redirecting to answer 15100654 that day.
- Local Services Help, "View reports on Local Services Ads", https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/6226265. Read in full on September 24, 2026.
- Local Services Help, "Manage leads and jobs", https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/6224859. Read in full on September 24, 2026.
- Local Services Help, "About reaching customers with your Local Services Ads", https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/7419052. Read in full on September 24, 2026.
- Local Services Help, "Edit your industries, service areas, and job types", https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/12491364. Read in full on September 24, 2026.
- Google Ads Help, "Local Services Ads transition to Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals", https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/17213585. Read in full on September 24, 2026.
- Google Ads API documentation, "Local Services campaigns", https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/campaigns/local-service-campaigns. Read in full on September 24, 2026.
- Google Ads API reference, version 25, last updated July 22, 2026, read in full on September 24, 2026: "ProvideLeadFeedbackResponse", https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v25/ProvideLeadFeedbackResponse; "CreditIssuanceDecision", https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v25/LocalServicesLeadCreditIssuanceDecisionEnum.CreditIssuanceDecision; "SurveyAnswer", https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v25/LocalServicesLeadSurveyAnswerEnum.SurveyAnswer; "SurveyDissatisfiedReason", https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v25/LocalServicesLeadSurveyDissatisfiedReasonEnum.SurveyDissatisfiedReason; "SurveyDissatisfied", https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v25/SurveyDissatisfied; "SurveySatisfiedReason", https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v25/LocalServicesLeadSurveySatisfiedReasonEnum.SurveySatisfiedReason; "CreditState", https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v25/LocalServicesCreditStateEnum.CreditState.
- Search Engine Roundtable, "Google Automated Local Services Ads Lead Credits Coming", Barry Schwartz, June 25, 2024, https://www.seroundtable.com/google-automate-local-services-ads-lead-credits-37617.html. Read in full on September 24, 2026.
- Search Engine Roundtable, "Google To Charge For Missed & Subsequent Calls On LSAs", Barry Schwartz, August 25, 2026, https://www.seroundtable.com/google-lsa-missed-subsequent-calls-41940.html. Read in full on September 24, 2026. Source of the October 1 missed-call rule, which quotes Google's email to advertisers.