Local Services Ads lead disputes and billing for law firms: what you pay for and what comes back

A firm pays for a Local Services lead, the caller turns out to be selling something, and nobody checks whether the money came back. Over a year that adds up. This guide sets out what Google charges for, what it credits on its own, what it no longer credits, and the monthly audit that keeps you honest.

What counts as a charged lead?

A charged lead is a contact Google judges valid. Google says you’re charged for each valid lead you receive through your Local Services ad. That includes an answered call, a call you return and connect, a text or email, a booking request, a voicemail and some missed calls. The rules below are the ones that surprise law firms most.

The table’s lesson: your phone setup and listed hours decide a good part of the bill. See our note on missed-call billing and the after-hours guide.

How do automatic credits work now?

Google screens leads twice. It says leads determined to be invalid or low quality are not charged at first contact, and that Google continuously assesses lead quality over a 30-day period. A lead it later judges poor quality, duplicate or invalid is credited without a form. Your account shows each lead’s status: charged, not charged, in review or credited.

What does Google no longer credit?

The two reasons firms used most for wrong-practice calls are gone. Google says Google no longer supports credits for “job type not serviced” and “geo not serviced” leads. So a bankruptcy call reaching a family firm, or a caller from outside your counties, is now a settings problem. Fix categories, job types and service areas, and expect fewer leads in exchange for better ones.

Where do credits show up, and when?

Credits go to the account balance, not the invoice line. Google says in most cases, credits will be applied to your account balance within 30 days, and the original lead charge will still appear on your invoice. That is why bookkeeping alone never shows whether credits came through; you need the lead-level view.

What evidence should you keep for every lead?

Keep a lead log built from your own intake records. When credits do not match what intake saw, the log lets you show a pattern with lead IDs instead of arguing case by case. It also feeds the monthly audit and your cost per signed case. One row per lead is enough.

• The lead ID from Google, the date, time and type.
• Whether the call was answered live, missed or sent to voicemail.
• The intake outcome: spam or sales call, wrong practice, outside your area, duplicate, qualified, consultation set, signed.
• The rating you gave in Google, and the date.
• Whether a credit arrived, the amount and the date.

Avoid testing your own line through the ad, since a test call may be treated as a lead. Our Local Services guide has a ready log layout.

What does a monthly credit audit look like?

Once a month, sort the log by intake outcome and match it to the lead statuses in Google. Spam, sales calls and duplicates that were charged and never credited after the review window are your list to raise with Google support, as a pattern with lead IDs, not one by one. Wrong-practice and out-of-area leads go to a settings review instead.

Then turn the totals into the number that matters: cost per signed case, net of credits. The Local Services vs search ads guide shows how to compare it with your search campaigns, and our data on Local Services lead mix gives context.

What this means for your firm

• Keep listed hours, categories, job types and areas honest; they now decide more of the bill than disputes do.
• Rate every lead from intake records and keep a lead-level log with Google’s lead ID.
• Audit charges and credits monthly, then judge Local Services on cost per signed case net of credits.

Start with a free video review, and we will check your Local Services settings and lead handling as part of it.