New Google Screened Categories Available for Local Services Ads

Tom Waddington Tom Waddington

Colan Nielson of Sterling Sky spotted new categories that just became available in the US for Google Local Services Ads onboarding.   For those of you not familiar, Local Services Ads appear with a “Google Guaranteed” or “Google Screened” label at the top of the results and offer greater visibility and streamlined lead generation for those who qualify.

The new additions – which will all appear with the “Google Screened” label – are:

• Architect
• Lawyer
• Tax Specialist
• Videographer

The lawyer category is segmented into 17 different practice areas:

Businesses interested in participating can check availability on the Local Services self-sign up form. Please note that the form is being a little flaky about showing the new additions in the job category drop-down field. You may need to change the country field to Canada and then back to the United States to see the new category additions.

Also, note that some of the categories may not be available in your area yet if you attempt to sign up. The form should indicate if your business category is available for onboarding based on your selected job category and zip code.

Moving out of the testing phase

Google has been testing Local Services ads for immigration lawyers and estate planning attorneys in a few markets for over a year now. The Local Services program has also been available to real estate agents and financial planners in a few select US markets for over a year. Businesses in these categories interested in Local Services should check the form to see if their area is now available for onboarding.

When will the ads start showing?

It may be a while before you actually see Local Services ads appearing in the search results in new markets for these categories. Even so, starting the onboarding process as soon as possible is a good idea for any business considering participating. This expansion into new practice areas and markets in the United States shows that Google is serious about expanding Local Services to business categories outside of home services.