Local Services Ads charge per valid lead, including a missed call once the caller holds past 20 seconds (Google Local Services Help, 2026); Google Search ads charge per click. Across 13 plaintiff firms and $3.3 million of spend, Search leads cost $95 and Local Services leads $205, yet $2,971 against $2,485 per signed case (Pareto Legal, 2026). In our 9pm Test, 281 readable injury firm sites scored a median 2 of 7 after hours (ours, 2026).
Click costs by metro: what a personal injury case costs on Google Ads in 2026.
How is each one priced?
Local Services Ads are priced per lead; Google Search ads are priced per click. On Local Services Ads you set a weekly budget and a bid mode (Maximize leads, Target cost per lead or Max per lead); "a bid is the most you'd pay for a lead" and competing bids "determine how much the lead is worth." You are charged for a conversation, a text, email, voicemail or booking, and when "you missed a phone call during your business hours and the customer stays on the line for more than 20 seconds." On Search, "cost-per-click (CPC) bidding means that you pay for each click on your ads," never more than your maximum bid; everything after the click is yours.
What does Google publish about Local Services Ads for lawyers?
Google lists "Personal injury lawyer services" as an eligible category, ranks the ads on bid, responsiveness, profile quality and relevance, and is moving the product into Performance Max pay-per-lead campaigns between August 2026 and 2027. The badge: on 9 October 2026 the Google Screened help article redirected to "About Google Verified badge", "a single badge for all advertisers" after screening that "may include background, business registration, insurance, and license checks." The ranking: "Missed calls may negatively affect your responsiveness," and "average response time" counts toward profile quality. The migration: home and storefront services in "August 2026", "broader advertiser groups" in "Late 2026", "all remaining business categories" in "2027", no legal date given. What stays: "You still only pay for valid leads," and "your campaign remains keywordless."
What do the leads cost, and what can you dispute?
The only 2026 comparison with a stated method puts a Search lead at $95 and a Local Services lead at $205, then reverses the order per signed case.
| Figure | Google Search | Local Services Ads | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per lead, 13 firms, $3.3 million, 2025 | $95 | $205 | Pareto Legal, 17 Apr 2026 vendor-published |
| Cost per signed case, same book | $2,971 | $2,485 | same |
| All legal, blended | $9.87 per click $131.63 per lead | not measured | LocaliQ, updated 1 Jun 2026 vendor-published |
Neither is your metro, and Google publishes no lead price.
Disputes are now mostly automatic: charged leads "may be issued credits automatically if later determined to be low quality," usually "within 30 days," though the charge "will still appear on your invoice." Google "no longer supports credits for 'job type not serviced' and 'geo not serviced' leads"; you can still rate a lead in the Feedback Survey. A Search click has no credit desk, so quality control is the keyword list, the negatives and the page.
What do you control on each?
On Search you control keywords, negatives, ad copy, landing page and bid; on Local Services Ads you control budget, bid mode, job types, service area, reviews and how fast you answer, nothing else. Local Services Ads cannot target Spanish-language searches, send a caller to a qualifying page or exclude unwanted searches; targeting "is based on the service categories and areas you offer." Search can, which is also where money leaks: Raices Legal, a Spanish-language accident firm, had a $500-a-day Google campaign that got 15 impressions and no clicks in 30 days because five keywords were capped at a $0.01 bid; rebuilt, the first pass cut 81 wasted search terms worth $1,102.97.
Why does intake speed set the real cost per lead on both?
Because on Local Services Ads a missed call is a charged lead after 20 seconds and a ranking penalty, and on Search the click is paid for before anyone picks up. I have done personal injury intake work with Walker Advertising and Jacoby & Meyers; the published record only covers office hours. Hennessey Digital's 2025 study sent forms to 1,333 firms "between the hours of 10 a.m. and 12 p.m." and found a 13-minute median response and 26% never answering.
Nobody had measured 9pm. The 9pm Test read 308 personal injury firm websites in Los Angeles and Houston on 15 September 2026: 281 were readable, the median score was 2 of 7, and no firm scored above 5. Only 47 of 139 readable Los Angeles sites and 38 of 142 in Houston said someone takes contact after hours and named a Spanish speaker; 16 and 23 had a page actually written in Spanish. Nothing was called or submitted. That is the page a 9pm caller meets after the lead is charged or the click paid. The arithmetic is in law firm intake speed to lead; the numbers in law firm intake statistics.
When does each one win, and how do you run both?
Local Services Ads win when the firm answers live and wants Google to cap the price per lead without keyword work; Search wins when the firm must choose its case types, its language and its landing page.
Fix the phone first
Answer in business hours and state the after-hours promise on the site; both products bill a missed call.
Open Local Services Ads
Start on Maximize leads, then Target cost per lead once you know what a lead costs in your metro.
Open Search for what Local Services cannot do
Spanish keywords to a Spanish page, exact and phrase match, weekly negatives, a qualifying question.
Track to the retainer, then read one weekly page
Signed cases go back to Google as offline conversions; then one page a week: spend, leads, retainers, cost per signed case, speed to first contact, by channel.
Want both channels run against one number?
One personal injury firm per metro, both channels in Spanish and English, every case tracked to the retainer. Flat USD 5,000 a month, never a share of your fees.
See if my metro is openFrequently asked questions
Are Local Services Ads cheaper than Google Ads for personal injury firms?
Per lead, usually not; per signed case, sometimes. Across 13 plaintiff firms and $3.3 million of 2025 spend, Search leads cost $95 and Local Services leads $205, but signed cases $2,971 and $2,485. One agency's book, not your metro.
Can a law firm dispute a bad Local Services Ads lead?
Mostly not by hand. Google's models reassess charged leads and credit low-quality ones, in most cases within 30 days; the charge stays on the invoice. Job type not serviced and geo not serviced credits were withdrawn. A Search click carries no credit.
Do personal injury lawyers still get the Google Screened badge?
On 9 October 2026 the Google Screened help article redirected to About Google Verified badge, a single badge for all advertisers. Screening still may include background, business registration, insurance and license checks.
Should a personal injury firm run Local Services Ads and Google Ads together?
Yes, once the phone is answered. Local Services Ads cap the price per lead and need no keywords; only Search can target Spanish-language searches and send callers to a qualifying page. Track both to the signed retainer.
Method and sources
Google pages opened 9 October 2026. Our crawl: public GET requests on 15 September 2026, nothing called or submitted.
- Google Local Services Help and Google Ads Help, 2026. primaryleads · credits · bidding · rankings · categories · screening · badge · transition · CPC
- Pareto Legal, 2026. Law Firm PPC Statistics, 17 April. vendor-publishedpareto.legal/law-firm-ppc-statistics-2026
- LocaliQ, 2026. Search Advertising Benchmarks, updated 1 June. vendor-publishedlocaliq.com/blog/search-advertising-benchmarks
- Hennessey Digital, 2025. Lead Form Response Time Study. vendor-publishedhennessey.com/2025-lead-form-response-time-study
- Wealth Marketing AI, 2026. The 9pm Test, crawled 15 September 2026. ourswealthmarketing.ai/9pm-test