Google LSA missed call charges changed on October 1, 2026. Google can now charge for an unanswered call during eligible business hours when the caller stays connected for more than 20 seconds. For contractors, phone coverage is now part of the media-buying decision, not only a sales follow-up problem.
Google's current pay-per-lead help page documents the ring-time, voicemail, IVR, scheduling, and repeat-contact rules. Google still describes these campaigns as pay per valid lead. The definition of a chargeable call now reaches some calls your team never answers.
What Changed for LSA Calls on October 1?
Google notified advertisers that some missed calls and later calls would become chargeable on October 1. Independent reports from Search Engine Land and PPC Land preserved the same advertiser-notice language before the effective date.
The timing matters because Google is also moving Local Services Ads into specialized Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals. Our Local Services Ads migration guide covers the new interface, bidding, budget, and reporting workflow. This guide covers a separate decision: what happens from the first ring through the booked job.
How Does the 20-Second LSA Rule Work?
The rule is narrower than the headline. Ring time, business hours, ad schedule, the way an automated menu behaves, and whether anyone answers all change how Google evaluates the call. Use the current account documentation as the source of truth for your campaign type and country.
| Call path | Google's documented treatment | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Missed call over 20 seconds | Can be charged during both listed business hours and the active ad schedule | Hours, ring duration, forwarding delay, and final destination |
| Answered after 20 seconds | Evaluated as an answered call, not charged from ring time alone | Conversation, service fit, and lead outcome |
| IVR with a key press | Timer resets after the first key press; later key presses do not reset it again | Menu length, dead ends, and transfer time |
| IVR hangup without a key press | Not charged under the documented 20-second IVR rule | Whether the system requires a key and records the path correctly |
| Voicemail or greeting | Treated as connected and can be charged after 20 seconds | Greeting length, message capture, and immediate callback process |
Business hours and ad schedules both matter
Google defines business hours from the connected Google Business Profile. If your ad schedule is narrower, the unanswered call must also fall inside that active schedule to qualify under the missed-call rule. Do not advertise an open phone line simply because a crew is working in the field.
A later call can become the first charged lead
If the first contact was not charged, Google can evaluate a later call and charge it when it meets the valid-lead rules. After a lead is charged, Google says follow-up contact from the same phone number or email is not charged again within 15 days when there is continued interaction. Record the original contact and the charged event so your CRM does not count one homeowner twice.
What Do Missed-Call Charges Change for Contractors?
The new rule prices an operations failure into the ad account. A roofer on a ladder, an HVAC technician in an attic, or a plumber under a sink may be unable to answer. If the campaign runs through those hours without a staffed backup, the business can pay for the lead and still lose the homeowner to the next company.
That does not prove every answering service, AI receptionist, or call center will improve profit. Scorpion's home-service analysis focuses on routing and speed, while contractor marketer Adam McChesney's September 16 walkthrough tells operators to compare their real missed-call volume with the new rule. Both are practitioner interpretations. Your call logs and job economics decide whether a change pays.
Intake capacity also affects which channels a business can support. The contractor lead generation guide compares rented and owned demand. Our roofing marketing page shows how that acquisition mix connects to one trade, but the same answer-rate problem applies across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, pest control, cleaning, and other local services.
How Should a Contractor Audit LSA Missed Calls?
What Should the Missed-Call Audit Include?
Match advertised hours to answering coverage
Call every route yourself
Remove avoidable delay
Create a missed-call recovery rule
Review charged leads and feedback daily
Set an intake capacity limit
How Should You Measure the Business Result?
Track the funnel by call, not by platform summary alone. Record whether the call was answered, missed, returned, qualified, booked, held, sold, credited, or duplicated. Then calculate cost per qualified lead, cost per booked appointment, cost per sold job, revenue, and gross profit for the same reporting window.
Our Google Ads offline conversion guide explains how to return qualified and sold outcomes without blending raw calls into business results. Keep missing CRM outcomes marked as missing. A charged call is not automatically a qualified lead, and a qualified lead is not automatically revenue.
Google LSA Missed Call Charges FAQ
Does Google charge for every missed Local Services Ads call?
No. Google says an unanswered call can be charged when it arrives during both your Google Business Profile hours and active ad schedule and the caller remains connected for more than 20 seconds. Shorter missed calls and some IVR hangups do not qualify under that rule.
What happens if someone answers after 20 seconds?
Google says the 20-second ring rule applies only to unanswered calls. If your team answers, the call is evaluated as an answered lead based on the conversation rather than automatically charged because of ring time.
Does voicemail count as answering an LSA call?
Google says voicemail or an automated greeting without a key press is treated as a connected call. It can be charged when the caller remains connected for more than 20 seconds during eligible hours, whether or not the caller leaves a message.
Can Google charge for a follow-up call from the same customer?
Google says a later call can be charged if the earlier contact did not qualify as a charged lead and the new call meets the valid-lead rules. Once a lead is charged, qualifying follow-up contact from the same phone number or email is not charged again within the documented 15-day interaction window.
Want LSA Spend Tied Back to Booked Jobs?
We can audit campaign hours, call routing, lead handling, CRM stages, and cost per sold job before missed calls waste more paid demand.