• Search Engine Land
  • Sections
    • SEO
    • SEM
    • Local
    • Retail
    • Google
    • Bing
    • Social
    • Resources
    • More
    • Home
  • Search Engine Land
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social
  • Resources
  • Live
  • More
  • Events
  • SUBSCRIBE

Search Engine Land

Search Engine Land
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social
  • Resources
  • More
  • Newsletters
  • Home
Local

Google takes Local Services Ads to Europe

Searches for local services grew more than 25% YoY across European countries.

Greg Sterling on September 30, 2020 at 4:59 am
  • More

Google’s Local Services Ads (LSAs) program is now rolling out in Europe. It will initially be available for 16 home services categories (not professional services) in 10 countries: Germany, UK, France, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain.

16 home services verticals. The featured home services verticals include Appliance Repair, Carpet Cleaning, Electricians, Garage Door Installation and Repair, House Cleaning, Lawn Care, Movers, Pest Control, Plumbers, Roofers, Water Damage Restoration, Window Cleaning, Window Repair, Junk Removal and Tree Service.

LSAs is a pay-per-lead program that started with the idea of offering a very simple ad product to small businesses that generated more tangible results. There’s essentially no merchant-provided ad creative; and fixed pricing made everything simple. However, last week Google introduced bidding for LSAs while preserving fixed pricing as an alternative option. In Europe, pricing will be auction-based.

Would-be LSA advertisers must submit to background and licensing checks to qualify for the Google Guarantee, a precondition for LSA participation. Google is not rolling out LSAs for professional services (Google Screened) in Europe at this time.

LSAs come with the Google Guarantee. The Google Guarantee offers to reimburse consumers who used LSAs but ultimately weren’t satisfied with the quality of work performed — after attempting to resolve the problem with the service provider. There’s a lifetime benefit cap of $2,000. In most participating European countries the limit is €1,500 ($1,760). In the UK it’s £1,500 ($1,923).

European LSA example

Source: Google

No third party background checkers in Europe. In the U.S. Google uses third parties to perform licensing, insurance and background checks for the Google Guarantee and Google Screened programs. In Europe, Google will be doing its own verifications in-house, using relevant government databases. Typically, there’s a 14-day wait before the applicant-business is checked and verified. That wait should be less in Europe given the absence of third party involvement.

For consumers the core proposition of LSAs is trust (and visibility). They appear at the very top of the SERP and feature star ratings as well as a Google Guaranteed/Screened badge. There are a number of ways local marketers can receive LSA leads: phone, via messaging/email or online booking. The booking feature will not be available in Europe at launch, however.

The LSA merchant pitch is “only pay for results.” And merchants are only charged upon receiving a valid lead. In the U.S. Google defines “valid lead” as follows:

  • You receive a text message or email from the customer (US only).
  • You receive a voicemail from the customer.
  • You answer a phone call and speak with the customer.
  • You receive a missed call (without a voicemail), and you return the customer’s message with a text message, email or call where you either speak with the customer or leave a voicemail.
  • You receive a booking request from a customer.

Along with the European rollout, Google reported that “in the first half of 2020, searches for local services, like home improvement or maintenance, increased by over 25% in a year across a range of European countries.” As in the U.S. that’s undoubtedly because working from home and shelter in place rules have brought consumer attention to all the repair work and improvement projects that need to be done around the house.

Why we care. Google has been placing more emphasis on LSAs recently. The company is making them available to more local advertisers in more places. And while Google won’t share LSA performance data, we can infer the ad units are working for both Google and local advertisers.

Because LSAs outrank other ads and everything else on the page, local marketers must pay attention. Indeed, it won’t be long before categories are highly competitive and, with bidding, more expensive.

Google also recently separated the Google Guarantee badge from LSA participation. Merchants can now get checked and pay $50 per month, to display the Google Guarantee badge on their Business Profiles. I suspect that will become popular and, ultimately, widely adopted.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.



About The Author

Greg Sterling
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

Related Topics

Channel: LocalGoogleGoogle AdsGoogle: Google My BusinessGoogle: Maps & LocalSearch Ads

We're listening.

Have something to say about this article? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or our LinkedIn Group.

Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.

Processing...Please wait.

See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS

Lorem ipsum doler this is promo text about SMX events.

Available On-Demand: SMX Create

May 18-19, 2021: SMX London

June 8-9, 2021: SMX Paris

June 15-16, 2021: SMX Advanced

June 21-22, 2021: SMX Advanced Europe

August 17, 2021: SMX Convert

November 9-10, 2021: SMX Next

December 14, 2021: SMX Code

Available On-Demand: SMX

Available On-Demand: SMX Report

×


Learn More About Our SMX Events

Discover actionable tactics that can help you overcome crucial marketing challenges. Our next conference will be held:

Next Event: Sept. 14-15, 2021

Available On-Demand: March 2021

Available On-Demand: October 2020

×

Attend MarTech - Click Here


Learn More About Our MarTech Events

White Papers

  • Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms
  • Selecting a Customer Data Platform For Your Organization: The 2020 Gartner Market Guide
  • The Complete Guide to Web Core Vitals
  • The New Era of Automation in SEO
  • Nielsen Annual Marketing Report: Era of Adaptation
See More Whitepapers

Webinars

  • Drive Customer Engagement with the Power of Personalization
  • 7 Use Cases That Prove Why You Should Implement DAM
  • Accelerate Your SEO & Content Marketing Program with 4 Key Milestones
See More Webinars

Research Reports

  • Local Marketing Solutions for Multi-Location Businesses
  • Enterprise Digital Asset Management Platforms
  • Identity Resolution Platforms
  • Customer Data Platforms
  • B2B Marketing Automation Platforms
  • Call Analytics Platforms
See More Research

Attend SMX For Only $199

h
Receive daily search news and analysis.

Channels

  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social

Our Events

  • SMX
  • MarTech

Resources

  • White Papers
  • Research
  • Webinars

About

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS
  • Youtube

© 2021 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Your privacy means the world to us. We share your personal information only when you give us explicit permission to do so, and confirm we have your permission each time. Learn more by viewing our privacy policy.Ok