From October 1, 2026, that changes for the many contractors who buy leads through Google, and it is pushing more of them towards an AI answering service.
What Google is changing
Google’s August notice to US Local Services Ads advertisers says that from October 1, 2026, a call that goes unanswered during business hours is charged as a lead once the caller has waited more than 20 seconds. In other words, a missed call can now cost a contractor the lead fee as well as the job. Google’s own guidance also says missed calls can count against how responsive an advertiser appears, which is one of the things that decides who is shown first.
An answered call is still a lead that Google charges for. The difference is that the customer is spoken to, and the job has a chance of being won.
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