What’s on the Horizon for Google Ads

Google Ads is changing quickly, and more is on the horizon in the coming year.

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For local businesses, these changes will impact the way campaigns are managed, targeted, and optimized. But don’t worry, you don't need to chase every new Google announcement. Our team at My Marketing Works is here to help make sense of these changes and which ones could affect your advertising ROI.

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A few changes are especially important for local businesses, including:  

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• LSAs are moving into Google Ads

• AI is playing a bigger role in Search campaigns & evolving with new AI-powered experiences

• Ongoing monitoring and optimization still matter – these aren’t set it and forget it ad campaigns.

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Follow us as we discuss what these changes could mean for marketing your business.

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Local Services Ads Are Moving Into Google Ads

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One of the biggest changes already underway is the move of Local Services Ads into Google Ads.

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Google began migrating select U.S. home and storefront service businesses in August 2026. Not all of our clients have experienced the change yet – more businesses are expected to move over later this year, with the remaining categories and markets transitioning in 2027. LSA campaigns will become a specialized Performance Max campaign with a pay-per-lead goal.  

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The basic idea of LSAs isn't disappearing. Businesses will still pay for valid leads, and ads will continue appearing on Google Search results. What changes is where campaigns are managed, more control on how bidding and budgets work, and features like site links to get qualifed leads into your website for more information and chance to convert.  

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This is something we're looking closely at for our clients. Before an account moves, we’ll review performance, save historical reporting, check the business profile information feeding into Google, and help make adjustments once the new campaign is running.

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AI Is Becoming a Bigger Part of Search Ads

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Google is also putting more of its advertising system in the hands of AI. AI Max for Search campaigns is moving beyond its beta phase, with Google adding more ways for advertisers to guide targeting, messaging, and brand controls. Google is also transitioning some older Search features toward AI Max.

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That doesn't mean you can set everything to automatic and walk away. AI can expand reach and find searches you might not have targeted manually, but somebody still needs to look at what it's actually bringing in. Often in the trades, AI will assume that a plumber also offers HVAC services and will add those terms into an account (a double whammy: costing money and possibly causing customer confusion).  

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When managing LSA and Ads campaigns, we’ll monitor search terms and remove negative ones, watch lead quality, landing pages like reviews + project gallery, ad messaging, and budget allocation to make sure automation is working toward the right goals!

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Google Search Campaigns Are Constantly Changing

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While all the changes make our jobs fun, home service brands that just want to get booked may not be as excited.  

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Google is also testing new ad formats built for AI Mode, its more conversational Search experience. These experiments are designed to connect ads with the way people are increasingly using AI to research questions and make decisions. These ads are shifting ad copy and keywords based on more robust, individual client data that we can then use to add other content and further enhance ads.  

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We're still early in this shift, so there's no reason to overhaul your advertising for every new experiment. It does mean it's worth paying attention, as these updates can and likely will update how you run ads for your business.  

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Are AI Ads Different or Managed Under Google Ads Now?

We’ve been getting this question a lot recently! Unlike the change of moving LSA into Ads, AI ads like the display style ads show at the bottom of Chat GPT results are run by its own native advertising experiments for free and lower-cost user tiers, managed through OpenAI's separate systems.

What a Chat GPT Ad Looks like

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That said, they are pretty similar to the image style, Search P Max campaigns in Google Ads now. Just those ads are placed on Google's own properties—including Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, Discover, Maps, and Google's internal AI Mode/AI Overviews. This is a helpful image showing how images (or videos) may be showing on Google Ad Campaigns outside of standard Search.  

We are always platform ‘agnostic’ so to our marketing experts, we’re looking at the best performing ads, copy, and imagery to take an integrated approach to your online advertising efforts. Generally, we’ll suggest clients combine strategies for the most reach and ROI:  

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• Google Ads (Search and P Max campaigns)

• Google Local Ads – with reputation management for more reviews to help your ad stand out

• Social Media /Meta –local service area and retargeting visitors

• Chat GPT Ads  

• Directory listing ads – Angi or Yelp  

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Blend these with great organic content, and you’ll really GROW!

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Let’s Make Your Ads WORK for You

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Google isn't going to stop changing its advertising platform; none of these ad platforms will anytime soon. The change is always constant. The businesses that benefit from these updates will be the ones paying attention, testing thoughtfully, and adjusting based on actual results over time.  

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That's where our team at My Marketing Works can help. We keep up with the changes, manage the day-to-day details, and help you figure out which Google Ads opportunities are actually worth pursuing for your business. Contact us to talk about what's changing and what it could mean for your campaigns, and let’s make your marketing WORK!

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