What changes October 1, 2026
Google is changing what counts as a billable lead in Local Services Ads. Starting October 1, a missed call during your listed business hours becomes a charged lead if the caller stays on the line more than 20 seconds — about five rings. Nobody has to answer. Nobody has to talk. The caller waits, hangs up, and you still pay. (Search Engine Land; Search Engine Roundtable, via Google's advertiser email)
Two more pieces that matter:
- Follow-up calls can also be charged. If the first call doesn't qualify, a later call between you and that customer that meets Google's valid-lead criteria can become the billable one. Google's Ads Liaison clarified you'll only be charged once for follow-ups within 15 days of the first interaction — after 15 days, it can count as a brand-new lead. (Search Engine Roundtable)
- There's a routing exception. If your setup makes callers press a key to reach a department, the 20-second clock starts when they press it. No key press, no charge. Google also says it's adding robocall and spam safeguards, but hasn't said how they work. (Search Engine Land)
Google's stated reason: LSA customers usually need help right now and expect to reach someone fast — the change rewards "excellent responsiveness." (Search Engine Land) Google notified advertisers by email in late August. (Mediagistic)
The part that stings: answer rate already affects where your LSA ad ranks. Miss calls and you drop in the rankings — and starting October 1, you pay for the missed ones on the way down. (AdStack)
The call-handling setup
The goal is simple: no LSA call rings past 20 seconds unanswered during your business hours.
- Know your number. Pull your LSA call log and count how many calls rang out unanswered last month. That's your exposure starting October 1.
- Cover the phones during every hour you list as open. Google treats your listed hours as fair game. Either staff them or shrink them to hours you can actually cover.
- Give every call somewhere to land in under 20 seconds. A human, a backup person, or a service that answers — not voicemail alone. A missed-call text-back ("sorry we missed you — what's going on?") catches the caller before they dial the next company.
- Check your phone menu. If callers press a key to route, the clock starts at the key press — keep the menu short and make sure routing actually reaches a live person.
- Watch the follow-ups. A callback you place can become the billable event. Track which LSA callers you've already contacted so the same person doesn't turn into a second charge outside the 15-day window.
This-week checklist
- Pull last month's LSA calls — count the unanswered ones
- Confirm your listed business hours match hours a human actually answers
- Put a backup on the phones for your busiest hours — second staffer, answering service, or AI reception
- Set up missed-call text-back so no caller waits in silence
- Test your phone menu: key press to a live person, fast
- Assign someone to review the LSA lead bill weekly starting in October
Sources: Search Engine Land (Anu Adegbola); Search Engine Roundtable (Google's advertiser email; Google Ads Liaison clarification, Aug 26, 2026); Mediagistic (Sep 10, 2026); AdStack (Aug 25, 2026).