You can miss a call while you’re on a job, then find a lead charge in your LSA account. Since October 1, 2026, Google can bill some unanswered Local Services Ads calls as leads.
The rule applies to calls that come in during your business hours and where the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds. That doesn’t mean every missed call is billable, and some missed calls could already be charged under the previous rules. Check your account settings and lead statuses so you know which calls qualify and what you can change.
The short answer: yes, and it's already live
Yes. Since October 1, 2026, Google can charge you for an unanswered LSA call if it arrives during your business hours and the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds. The change is already in effect.
Google announced the policy in an email to advertisers titled “Upcoming changes to lead charge policy.” The emails started arriving around August 24, 2026, and Google has since added the rule to its help page.
The threshold is limited: it does not apply to every missed call. It covers calls during business hours that last longer than 20 seconds. Some missed calls could already be billed under the previous policy when you called the customer back and reached them or left a message.
Review the hours on your Google Business Profile and in your LSA account. If you can’t answer calls during those hours, update your settings so your ads run only when someone is available.
What counts as a charged missed call
A missed call can be charged when it meets Google’s duration and business-hours conditions, with additional rules for phone menus, voicemail, and repeat contacts.
- Business hours: Google uses the hours on your Google Business Profile. If your ad schedule is narrower, the call must fall within both your listed business hours and your ad schedule.
- Phone menus: A “press 1” menu acts as a gate. The 20-second count starts at the first key press. If the caller hangs up without pressing a key, you aren’t charged.
- Voicemail and greetings: A voicemail or greeting counts as a connected call. If the caller listens for more than 20 seconds, the lead can be charged even if they leave no message. This is especially relevant if your cell phone sends unanswered calls straight to voicemail.
- Calls you answer: If you pick up, Google judges the lead by the conversation, not by how long the phone rang before you answered.
- Repeat contacts: Contact from the same phone number or email within 15 days is billed once.
- Previous rule: Before this change, an unanswered call without a voicemail was billed only if you called or texted back and reached the customer or left them a message.
Google does not clarify whether the 20 seconds for a call without a menu start with the first ring or at another point. Keep that uncertainty in mind when reviewing a charge.
What a missed call actually costs you
A missed call can cost you the lead charge, the job you might have booked, and responsiveness in Google’s ad ranking.
Lead prices vary by trade and account. Typical examples include handyman leads in the low tens of dollars, with some trade leads costing several dozen dollars. Use the price shown on your own LSA Leads page, not a national average, to estimate your exposure.
The calculation is straightforward: missed calls per week × your lead price = weekly charges for those calls. For example, if you miss four calls in a week and your Leads page shows a $30 lead price, those calls add up to $120 in lead charges.
That estimate covers the ad bill only. A missed call can also mean a lost job, and Google says missed calls can hurt your “responsiveness” in ad ranking. Check your own lead price before deciding whether a schedule or phone-handling change is worthwhile.
Credits and disputes: how they work now
Google reviews leads automatically and credits leads it identifies as invalid; you can’t file a dispute.
Since July 2024, Google’s system has reviewed every lead, with credits usually appearing within 30 days. The lead status shows what happened: Charged means billed, Not charged means no charge, In review means Google is still assessing it, and Credited means a credit was applied.
A credit does not remove the original charge from your invoice. Google no longer credits leads marked “job type not serviced” or “geo not serviced.” You can use the “Rate this lead” survey to provide feedback, but don’t count on it as a way to contest a missed-call charge.
Settings to fix tonight
Set your listed hours to match when someone can answer, then limit your ad schedule and pause ads whenever the phone will go unattended.
- Update your Google Business Profile hours to match the hours someone can answer. Set the LSA business-hours field to those same hours.
- Choose Only during my business hours or set custom hours for your ad schedule. Avoid All day if you can’t answer calls throughout the day.
- Pause your ads or mark your business temporarily closed when you’re on a roof, on vacation, or spending time with your family.
- Turn on message leads so customers can text. Enable booking leads if your scheduler supports them.
- Reply to messages promptly. Google displays your average reply time on your ad.
If your account has moved into Google Ads with Performance Max and pay-per-lead goals, find the pause control under Campaigns > Settings. Your hours sync from your Business Profile, and you can change the forwarding number yourself.
Getting the phone answered when you can't
Route calls to someone who can pick up, or use a phone-handling option that gives callers a way to reach you while you’re working.
You can forward calls to a person who is available, add a “press 1” menu, or use an answering service or AI receptionist. A menu can stop the 20-second count until the caller presses a key, though some customers may hang up when they hear one. Google does not specify how it classifies calls answered by an AI agent.
Answering more calls does not shrink your Google bill, because an answered call is also a paid lead. It gives you a chance to turn that paid lead into a booked job. Home-service calls reach a live person only about half the time, so a reliable way to answer can help you capture more opportunities.
Watch the bill every week
LSA reports don’t provide a missed-call count, so inspect each phone lead to find calls marked Missed call.
Check lead charge statuses weekly and compare them with your phone records. If your account is about to move into Google Ads, save or screenshot your old reports first; they don’t carry over.
Photo by Firmbee on Pixabay.
