Is My Lawn Care Business in Google's First Local Services Ads Migration Wave?
Google named lawn care in the first migration wave and did not name landscaping, and Google runs those as two separate Local Services Ads categories. So the answer depends on which category your account actually sits in, not on what you call your business. Check your category first, because a landscaper who does both work types can easily be in either one.
Is Lawn Care in the First Wave? Is Landscaping?
Lawn care, yes. Landscaping, not by name. That distinction is the whole post, so here it is up front.
On 19 July 2026, Google announced that Local Services Ads are moving into Google Ads as Performance Max campaigns with a pay-per-lead goal. The first wave started in August 2026 and covers nine US categories:
- Plumbing
- HVAC
- Electrical
- Appliance repair
- House cleaning
- Lawn care
- Roofing
- Pest control
- Moving
Notice what isn't on that list. Landscaping. And Google runs Lawn care and Landscaping services as two different Local Services Ads categories, with different job types under each.
Turns out lawn care and landscaping aren't the same thing to Google, which is news to every landscaper who's ever done both in the same afternoon.
---
So Which One Are You In?
Whichever one your account was set up under, which is not necessarily how you'd describe yourself at a barbecue.
This is the part worth being honest about: a guy running a landscaping company with six mowing crews and a hardscape division could be in either category depending on a dropdown someone picked years ago. Your truck lettering doesn't decide this. Your account does.
How to check: open your Local Services Ads account and look at the category listed on your business profile, along with the job types you're opted into. It's a one-minute job. Do it before you read another word of migration advice, because everything downstream depends on the answer.
| If your category is | First-wave status | What to do about it |
|---|---|---|
| Lawn care | Named in the first wave, August 2026 | Export your reports now. Expect a 14-day notice at any time. |
| Landscaping services | Not named. Later wave, timing unpublished. | Export your reports anyway. It costs an hour and removes the question. |
| Both, across multiple accounts | Treat the lawn care one as first-wave | Handle the lawn care account first, then the other. |
| You don't run Local Services Ads | Not affected at all | Nothing. Genuinely nothing. Enjoy your Sunday. |
---
What If Landscaping Gets Pulled In Anyway?
It might, and nobody outside Google knows. Here's the honest state of it as of August 2026:
- Google has published the first-wave category list. Landscaping isn't on it.
- Google has said later waves cover service-area businesses without storefronts and accounts with custom bidding or booking setups in late 2026, then non-US accounts and all remaining categories in 2027.
- Google has not published whether Landscaping rides along with Lawn care early.
That's the full extent of what's known. Anyone telling you Landscaping is definitely safe until 2027, or definitely moving next month, is filling in a blank Google left empty.
Which leads to the boring but correct conclusion: do the one urgent task either way. If you're in the first wave, you needed it. If you're not, you spent an hour and now you have your own records permanently, which is not a bad outcome for a business whose numbers are seasonal.
---
What's the One Urgent Task?
Export your performance history. Google has confirmed that previous campaign-level metrics do not migrate into Google Ads. Past impressions, clicks, weekly spend, and ad-level performance reports stay behind in a dashboard that's being retired.
For a lawn care business this matters more than it does for a trade with steady year-round demand. Your entire business is a curve. The March phone explosion, the July plateau when everyone's on vacation and nobody's booking, the October leaf-cleanup spike. You can only see that shape across multiple full years, and it exists in one place.
Pull these, longest date range available:
- Lead detail with dates and costs
- Cost per lead by month, ideally across two or more years
- Performance by job type, so you know whether mowing or cleanups actually paid
- Your current weekly budget figure, written down before it converts
Save it somewhere that isn't your phone's downloads folder.
---
What Changes After the Move?
Three things, whichever wave you're in.
- Weekly budgets become daily. Google divides your historical average weekly budget by 7, and monthly spend caps at that daily figure times 30.4, the average days in a month. Seasonal businesses should watch this one, because "historical average" flattens a year that was anything but average.
- Manual bidding and per-service target CPA are being phased out in favor of a single campaign-level target cost per lead.
- Bad-lead credits are automatic. Google removed manual lead disputes in mid-2024, so there's no form and no case to file. Charged leads get an automatic machine-learning review within roughly 72 hours, credits land within about 30 days, and the only lever you control is the "Rate this lead" control. Rating a bad lead as very dissatisfied, with the reason attached, is what triggers the review. If somebody's pitching you a service built on filing disputes, that process ended two years ago.
---
What Doesn't Change?
Your reviews, and they're carrying more weight than they used to. Since 11 July 2025, Local Services Ads reviews and Google Business Profile reviews have been the same pool, managed through your Business Profile. Your star rating, review count, and engagement now feed into how often your ads show and in what position.
Given that the large majority of consumers read online reviews before choosing a local business [1], those reviews are now working two jobs at once: convincing the homeowner, and convincing the system that decides whether the homeowner ever sees you.
Your Google Verified badge is also unaffected. Google merged Google Guaranteed, Google Screened, and License Verified into that single badge in October 2025. Worth knowing that Google is discontinuing the money-back guarantee that used to sit behind the old Google Guaranteed badge, so don't let anyone sell you on it.
And one thing that no marketing company can change: Google screens and verifies every provider itself. Nobody can get you approved. If you go through screening, the criminal background check comes to you personally by email and you complete it yourself.
Google's rolling this out in waves. Not the kind you can mow.
---
The Whole Thing in Four Steps
- Check your category. Lawn care or Landscaping services. One minute.
- Export your reports either way. One hour, and it's the only irreversible item.
- Write down your weekly budget so you can check the daily conversion later.
- Confirm who gets the notice email, because a missed notice is how people lose the history.
If you want to know whether Google and the AI answer engines can find your landscaping business at all right now, the free AI Visibility Check will tell you in a couple of minutes. And if reviews are the thing that always slides to next week, Rhody Reviews sends the request automatically once the job's wrapped, back when the lawn still looks its best.
Sources
- BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey. https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
- Google Ads Help. Local Services Ads transition to Performance Max pay-per-lead campaigns. https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/17213585
- Google Local Services Help. Edit your industries, service areas, and job types. https://support.google.com/localservices/answer/12491364
Frequently asked questions
I do mowing and full landscape installs. Which category am I in?
Whichever one your Local Services Ads account was set up under, which may not match how you describe yourself. Google treats Lawn care and Landscaping services as separate categories with separate job types. The only way to know is to open your account and look at the category on your profile. It takes about a minute and it's the first thing to do.
If I'm under Landscaping, am I safe?
You're not in the named first wave, but safe is the wrong word. Google's plan covers every category eventually. Later waves are slated for late 2026 and 2027. Whether Landscaping gets swept in with Lawn care earlier than that is not something Google has published, so anyone telling you either way with confidence is guessing.
What actually happens when my account migrates?
Your Local Services Ads become a Performance Max campaign with a pay-per-lead goal inside Google Ads. The standalone dashboard closes, your weekly budget converts to a daily one, and manual bidding gives way to a campaign-level target cost per lead. Your ads keep running through it.
What do I lose?
Your reporting history. Google has confirmed that past impressions, clicks, weekly spend, and ad-level performance reports do not migrate. For a seasonal business that hurts, because your spring ramp and your fall cleanup surge only show up across full years of data. Export before your notice runs out.
How much notice will I get?
14 days, then a reminder at 7 days, sent to the account administrator's email address. Confirm today that someone still reads that inbox.
Does any of this change how my reviews work?
No. Since 11 July 2025 your Local Services Ads reviews and your Google Business Profile reviews have been the same pool, managed through your Business Profile. The migration doesn't touch them, and they now feed directly into how often your ads show and where they rank.
Want more customers finding you?
Own The Box Marketing builds the website, the reviews, and the search visibility that grow service businesses. Get a free marketing audit.
Get your free audit