LSA lead credits
How do Local Services Ads lead credits and disputes work for law firms?
Manual disputes are gone. How Google credits poor Local Services Ads leads now, what it still charges for, and how to check the credits land.
By Santiago Alvarez, Founder, Ad Hoc Digital
Last updated
The short answer
If you read one part of this page, read this.
There's no manual dispute anymore. Google screens each Local Services Ads lead when the person first gets in touch, doesn't charge the ones it judges invalid or low quality, then keeps reassessing charged leads and credits poor ones automatically, in most cases within 30 days.
What a firm still controls is everything around that: rating each lead with "Rate this lead", keeping business hours accurate so missed calls are charged only when you could have answered, choosing job types and service areas that fit, and keeping a log so you can see whether credits actually arrive. Credits aren't offered to tax specialists or to advertisers in EMEA, which includes UK firms.
On the accounts we run for Local Services Ads, we rate every lead, good and bad, and keep checking charge statuses well past the 30-day mark. We work with law firms across the US and Canada, and also in Australia and the UK.
How credits work
Google judges every lead twice: at first contact, then again over the following weeks.
The first check decides whether you're charged at all. The second can hand money back to your account balance after the charge.
Google says leads "are first assessed when the potential customer makes initial contact," and the ones its models judge invalid or low quality are never charged. Spam and duplicate contacts are filtered out here, before they touch your budget.
Charged leads then get reassessed "over time" and "may be issued credits automatically" if they're later judged low quality. Google's billing page puts that reassessment window at 30 days. The credit goes to your account balance, and the original charge still shows on your invoice, which is why a firm's invoice and its real cost per lead rarely match.
| Status | What Google means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Not charged | Filtered at first contact, for example low quality or a duplicate | Nothing. Note it in your log so your lead count stays honest |
| Charged | Counted as a valid lead from the start | Rate it, and record what happened at intake |
| In review | Google is still assessing it; a credit follows if it isn't a good match | Wait. Don't judge the month while several sit here |
| Credited | Charged, then credited automatically or as a bonus credit for leaving feedback | Record the date so you can work out cost after credits |
What changed
Manual disputes are gone, and so are the two credit reasons lawyers leaned on most.
Older guides tell you to dispute a lead within a set window. That process no longer exists, and Google has stopped crediting leads for being the wrong job type or outside your area.
Google's help menu still lists a link called "How to dispute charges". It now opens the article on automated lead credits. There's no form to file and no window to beat.
Google's page is blunt: it "no longer supports credits for “job type not serviced” and “geo not serviced” leads." For a law firm, that covers the caller who wants a practice you don't take and the caller two counties outside your area. Those used to be the easy credits. Now they're the cost of loose settings.
So the fix moved upstream. Google tells advertisers who get unwanted leads to "revisit your service areas, job types, and categories," and warns that narrowing them can cut lead volume. Our guide to LSA categories for lawyers covers which ones to switch on, including the "Appear in general law searches" setting that decides whether you show for searches like "lawyer near me."
What you're charged for
A lead is charged when it meets Google's valid lead rules, and some missed calls count.
Google charges for answered calls, messages, voicemails and bookings. A missed call is charged too, but only inside your business hours and ad schedule, and only if the caller waits more than 20 seconds.
- Answered calls
If you or anyone at the firm picks up, the ring time doesn't matter. Google judges the call on the conversation, and credits it later if it was poor quality, a duplicate or invalid (except for accounts in the EEA).
- Missed calls
Charged when the call comes in during your business hours and the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds. "Business hours" are the hours on your Google Business Profile. If your ad schedule is narrower, a missed call is charged only when it falls inside both.
- Phone menus and greetings
If your system asks callers to press a key and they hang up without pressing one, there's no charge. Once they press a key, the 20 seconds start from that press. A call that goes to voicemail or a greeting during business hours is treated as connected, and is charged after 20 seconds whether or not they leave a message.
- Messages, voicemails and bookings
A text or email, a voicemail, or a booking request (US and Canada only) all count as valid leads. Google prices message leads on the person's estimated likelihood to book, and says they're typically cheaper than calls, though not always.
- The same person again
Once a lead is charged, follow-up calls or messages from the same number or email aren't charged again as long as there's contact within 15 days. After 15 quiet days, a new call is a new lead.
Rating leads
Rating leads tells Google what a good lead looks like for your firm.
Google calls its Lead Feedback Survey "crucial" to sending you more of the leads you want. It also says it may occasionally credit a lead you report as poor quality through it.
Open the lead
Sign in to your Local Services Ads account, open the menu and select Leads. Once your account moves to Performance Max, the Leads page sits in Google Ads under Goals, then Conversions, and Google says it keeps the lead feedback form.
Listen or read before you rate
In the US, Google records calls that come through its forwarding number and you can play them back from the lead inbox. Rate on what was said, not on a hunch from the caller ID.
Select Rate this lead
The survey opens from the right-hand side of the lead's page. Open it and submit your answer, with the reason when the lead was poor.
Rate the good ones too
Only rating bad leads teaches Google what you don't want. Rating the consults and signed cases tells it what you do want, which is the half most firms skip.
Mark booked leads
In the US and Canada you can also mark a lead as booked from the inbox and add the case type, which makes the Reports page more useful later.
When we run a firm's account, we rate every lead with a reason once it has had about a day to settle, so we've heard the whole call rather than the first ring. The reason matters as much as the score: "wrong practice area" and "spam" tell Google different things.
Keep a log
A simple lead log shows you whether credits are landing.
Google's reports show charged leads and the credits received in a period. They don't show what happened at intake, so the log is where the two meet.
| Column | What goes in it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Date, time and type | Call, message, voicemail or booking | Shows whether missed calls cluster at certain hours |
| Picked up? | Yes or no for every phone lead | Missed calls in business hours are charged and can hurt your ranking |
| What they needed | The case type in the caller's words | Spots job types or areas that pull the wrong work |
| Outcome | Consult booked, signed, not a fit, spam | The only way to see cost per signed case |
| Rated? | The rating and reason you sent | Leads you never rated are leads Google learned nothing from |
| Charge status | Charged, not charged, in review, credited | Shows what you actually paid |
| Credit date | When the credit appeared | Tells you if credits are arriving late |
In our client work, each firm's lead sheet carries Google's charge status beside the intake outcome for every lead, and our intake systems log whether each call was picked up. That makes a missed-call list for any period a few seconds' work, and it's one of the first things we look at when a firm's costs rise.
Keep checking older leads. Google says credits land within 30 days "in most cases," and we've seen one arrive around day 35. A log that stops looking at day 30 undercounts what you got back.
When no credit comes
If a bad lead stays charged, fix the setting that let it in before you chase support.
Most charged leads that feel unfair fall into one of a few patterns. Work through them in this order.
Check whether it's still in review
A lead in review hasn't been decided. Give it the full window, and then some, before treating it as a loss.
Make sure you rated it
An unrated bad lead is one Google only judged on its own. Rate it with the reason, even weeks later.
Ask whether it's a reason Google no longer credits
Wrong practice area or outside your area won't be credited for that reason. Tighten job types, service areas or the general law searches setting so the next one doesn't come through.
For a missed call, check hours and schedule
If it came in at a time your Business Profile says you're open, Google's rules say it's chargeable. Change the hours or the ad schedule, or cover the phone.
Check for a repeat caller
Two leads from one number more than 15 days apart are two charges by Google's rules. Inside 15 days they shouldn't be. Note the dates.
Then contact support from the account
If a lead breaks Google's own rules, say a second charge inside 15 days, contact Local Services support from inside the account with the lead's date and details, so the request is tied to your business.
What changes the answer
Where you are, what you practice and Google's Performance Max move all change the details.
The mechanics above are for US firms. A few situations change them, and Google states each one on its own pages.
| Situation | Lead credits | Note |
|---|---|---|
| US law firm | Automatic, most within 30 days | Call recordings available in the inbox |
| UK firm (Greater London only) | Not available | No credits for EMEA advertisers, and no call recordings for any vertical in Europe |
| Canadian firm | Credits exist in Canada | Google's Canada page lists no legal categories, so firms run other channels |
| Tax specialist category | Not available | Listed apart from the tax lawyer category; Google excludes it from credits |
| Account moved to Performance Max | Still pay per valid lead | The Leads page keeps charged status and the feedback form |
Our guide to Local Services Ads in Canada and the UK covers the country pages in full, and the Local Services Ads vs Google Ads guide explains why search ads have no credits at all.
A worked example
A hypothetical month shows why the invoice overstates the real cost per lead.
This is an illustration, not a result. The firm and every number are invented to keep the arithmetic clean.
Credits correct the picture, they don't make it. The DUI defense solo who made $13,500 from $600 in ad spend did it in 12 days, before most credits from that stretch could even land, and our DUI defense marketing page covers why that practice suits the format. We judge on signed cases first; our guide to cost per signed case shows the math.
Common mistakes
Where firms go wrong.
These are the habits we see costing firms money on lead credits.
Waiting to dispute a lead
There's nothing to file. Time spent looking for a dispute button is better spent rating the lead and fixing the setting that let it in.
Expecting credits for the wrong practice or area
Google ended both credit reasons. If those calls keep coming, the job types or service areas are too wide, and only the firm can narrow them.
Business Profile hours that don't match the phones
Missed calls are charged inside the hours on your profile. Hours that run past when anyone answers turn every late caller who holds on into a paid lead.
Only rating the bad leads
Ratings are how Google learns your preferences. A firm that only reports junk has told Google what to avoid but never what to look for.
Judging the month on the invoice
The invoice shows the original charges. Cost after credits, measured once the credits have landed, is the real figure.
Real results
What this looked like for real firms.
A Local Services Ads result from a DUI and criminal defense solo, judged on revenue within 12 days rather than on credits.
Identifying details are anonymized to protect our clients. Individual result, not a promise or prediction of any specific outcome for your firm.
FAQ
Questions lawyers ask us.
Straight answers to the questions that come up most.
Can I still dispute a Local Services Ads lead?
Not the way you used to. Google replaced manual disputes with automated lead credits: it reassesses charged leads and credits low-quality ones, in most cases within 30 days. You can still rate any lead with "Rate this lead", and Google says it may occasionally credit a lead you report as poor quality that way.
How long do Local Services Ads credits take?
Google says credits are applied to your account balance within 30 days in most cases, and some poor leads are credited within the first 24 hours. We've seen a credit arrive around day 35 on a client account, so keep checking older leads before you write one off.
Do I get credited for a caller who wanted a different type of law?
Not for that reason. Google no longer supports credits for "job type not serviced" leads. The lead may still be credited if Google judges it low quality for other reasons, but the reliable fix is narrowing your job types. Our categories guide shows how.
Am I charged for calls I miss?
Only some. A missed call is charged when it comes in during the business hours on your Google Business Profile, inside your ad schedule, and the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds. Missed calls can also hurt your responsiveness, which our ranking guide explains.
Where do credits show up?
As a credit to your account balance. The original charge stays on your invoice, so the two won't match. The Reports page in your Local Services account shows the lead credits received in any date range, and each lead's charge status shows on the Leads page.
Do UK firms get lead credits?
No. Google says lead credits aren't available to advertisers in EMEA, and call recordings and credits aren't available for any verticals in Europe. Legal categories in the UK are limited to Greater London. Our Canada and UK guide covers the rest.
Will credits change when my account moves to Performance Max?
Google's transition page says you still pay only for valid leads, and the new Leads page in Google Ads keeps the charged status and a lead feedback form. It doesn't describe any change to automated credits. If you'd like a second pair of eyes on your charges, schedule a consultation.
Where we do this
The services this guide touches.
What this looks like when we run it for a firm, with a demo for your practice on each page.
Sources
Where these facts come from.
Official pages we read when writing this page. Platforms and rules change, so check the current version before you act on any of it. This is marketing guidance, not legal advice.
- Google Local Services Help, About Automated Local Services Ads lead credits
- Google Local Services Help, How leads work
- Google Local Services Help, Manage leads and jobs
- Google Local Services Help, View reports on Local Services Ads
- Google Local Services Help, Edit your industries, service areas, and job types
- Google Local Services Help, About ad scheduling
- Google Local Services Help, Getting started with Local Services Ads (United States)
- Google Ads Help, Local Services Ads transition to Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals
Written by
Founder of Ad Hoc Digital. Leads strategy and works directly with every client firm on AI search, Local Services Ads, Google Ads and Meta ads.
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