Are You Charged When You Miss a Local Services Call?
Short answer. You are not charged for every missed call. A missed call during business hours can be charged when the caller stays more than 20 seconds, with extra rules if a phone menu requires a key. If you answer, even after a long ring, the call is judged as an answered call, not by the ring time.
Are you charged for every call you do not pick up?
No. The leads page says a missed call can be a valid lead when you miss it during business hours and the customer stays on the line for more than 20 seconds. A shorter unanswered ring is not that rule. Business hours are the hours on your Google Business Profile, and you can update them. If an ad schedule differs from those hours, an unanswered call is charged only when it falls inside both the active ad schedule and your business hours.
This is a charge for a valid lead, not for a click. See what Google Local Services Ads are and why a lead has no single price.
What counts as a valid answered call?
You can be charged when you answer, or when you call the customer back and speak with them. Google’s systems filter spam and duplicates, and models can credit low-quality leads. That is not a promise that every junk call is refunded. Manual lead disputes are no longer supported.
A poor, duplicate, or invalid lead can be credited automatically, except for accounts in the European Economic Area. Do not stretch that exception. Call recordings and lead credits are not available for tax specialists or for health care verticals in the United States, and are not available for any verticals in Europe. Status can read charged, not charged, in review, or credited while Google assesses quality for 30 days.
If it rings past 20 seconds and you then answer, are you charged for the wait?
No. The 20-second rule is for unanswered calls. If you or someone at the business answers, even after more than 20 seconds of ringing, you are not charged based on the ring time. The call is evaluated as an answered call, from the conversation. If that answered call is poor, duplicate, or invalid, a credit can be issued, except for accounts in the European Economic Area.
Answering late is not a charge for ring time. An answered call that meets the valid-lead rules can still be charged.
How does a phone menu change the timer?
If the menu requires a key, the 20-second timer starts when the caller presses it. You are not charged if they never press a key. The FAQ is stricter: if they hang up without pressing a key, you are not charged even when the menu played for more than 20 seconds. The first key press resets the timer. You are charged if the call continues for more than 20 seconds after that press. Later presses in a multi-level menu do not reset it again.
Once a key has been pressed, a long greeting is not automatically free.
What about voicemail, and a short miss you return?
If a call goes to voicemail or an automated greeting during business hours, Google treats it as a connected call. It is charged if the caller stays more than 20 seconds, whether or not they leave a message. A greeting that runs past that line can be a charge even when the caller stays silent.
If the phone rings for less than 20 seconds and you call back, the follow-up uses the answered-call rules. You are charged once on the first call that qualifies, and not again for later calls on that lead within 15 days. A callback does not erase a lead that already qualified.
When can the same customer be charged again?
After a charged lead, later calls or messages are not charged again if there is contact within 15 days from the same phone number or email. If 15 days pass with no activity, a new call or message is a new lead and can be charged if it is valid.
What should you not expect from a credit?
Do not plan on disputing each bad call by hand. That path is no longer supported. The Leads survey is feedback for Google’s models, not a refund button. If the jobs are the wrong kind, narrow service areas, categories, and service types. After the move, leads are in Google Ads, covered in the move into Google Ads. A call button on a regular search ad is a click, not this rule, as explained in Local Services Ads vs regular Google Ads.
FAQ
Is a missed call under 20 seconds charged?
The missed-call rule requires the caller to stay more than 20 seconds during business hours. If you call back and speak with them, that return call is judged as an answered call.
Does the timer include the whole phone menu?
No. If a key is required, it starts when the caller presses it. No key press means no charge, even if the menu ran longer than 20 seconds.
Are you charged for the ring if you answer after 20 seconds?
Not for the ring time. The call is judged as an answered call. A poor, duplicate, or invalid answered call can be credited, except for European Economic Area accounts.
Is a second call from the same person always free?
Only inside 15 days, from the same phone number or email, after a charged lead. After 15 days with no activity, a new valid contact can be charged.
