Quote Form on Your Website or Inside the Ad
Short answer. A form on your website is a page you control. A lead form asset lets a person submit contact info inside the Google ad, on Search or Performance Max. Pay-per-lead leads are a third pipe. Do not use the rules for one as the rules for the others.
What is different about a form on your site?
The person lands on your page and fills out your form. You choose the questions, the privacy line next to the button, and the page after send. Your tool delivers the lead. Google’s Notifications setting on a lead form asset does not.
For HVAC, plumbing, and roofing, shop practice is a short first form: name, phone, city or ZIP, what is wrong, and when they need someone. Leave photos and budget for the call. Dental should not ask for medical detail, an insurance member ID, or a date of birth first. That is practice, not a Google rule. See what to ask on a home service quote form. You can also ask one job-type question, and you can say which towns you do not serve.
What is different about a form inside the ad?
Google’s About page says a lead form lets someone submit information directly in the ad. You create it in Google Ads and add it to a campaign. You can add lead forms to Search and Performance Max. The person may never open your website.
You need a good compliance history, an eligible vertical, and a privacy-policy URL. Google shows that policy at the end of the form. Sensitive verticals such as sexual content are not eligible. The requirements page says healthcare-related ads are not allowed for lead forms. A dental office should read that before using the in-ad form. Your website form is a different pipe.
A normal lead form asset on Search is the simpler path. The extra spend bar is for Display, or for a Search ad whose headline opens straight into the form: reputable advertisers spending more than $1,000 USD per account or more than $15,000 USD across accounts, plus advertiser verification. The requirements page also says Video, Display, or that headline setup needs more than $50,000 USD total spend, while the lower path may still apply to reputable advertisers. It is not a cover charge on every lead form. See how to add a lead form to a Google ad.
To serve, use conversion-focused bidding and include a Google lead form conversion goal. Responsive search ads can serve. Expanded text ads cannot. Lead forms are for eligible advertisers in supported countries.
How do in-ad leads get to the office?
Delivery is CSV, email, the API, a webhook, or Zapier. CSV is only the last 30 days. Google Ads stores leads for 60 days, so download often. Email arrives only if you enter an address under Notifications. The API reaches up to 60 days and needs API access.
An in-ad submit does not load your thank-you page. Copy for the site page is in what the page should say after a form is sent.
Which pipe fits a small shop first?
Start on the site if you want every question, the privacy line, and the page after submit. Add a Search lead form asset when the submit should happen in the ad and you meet the simple requirements. Do not start with a headline that opens the form, or with Display or Video, unless you mean to clear the extra bar for those formats only.
You can run both. They do not dedupe each other. The office still has to watch both.
How is pay-per-lead different from both?
Pay-per-lead leads are a different pipe from a website form and from a lead form asset. Google’s page on Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals covers this Local Services style of lead. Two facts from that page belong only to that pipe.
Google filters spam and duplicates and can credit low-quality leads. A missed call during open hours is charged only if the caller stays more than 20 seconds. Do not copy that 20-second rule onto a website form or a lead form asset. A form is not billed that way.
More on that pipe is in what Google Local Services ads are and whether a missed Local Services call is charged. This article does not guarantee lead quality on any pipe.
What should you decide before you build either form?
Write down the jobs and the cities you cover. A form for any work, anywhere, collects requests you cannot do. See how to get fewer junk leads from Google.
Someone has to watch the inbox or the CSV the same day. The routine is in what to do in the first hour after a form lead. No close rate is stated here.
FAQ
If the ad has a lead form, can I skip the website form?
Yes. Keep a site form only if you also want requests from people who open the page.
Does my form have to match Google’s form word for word?
No. Your questions are practice. Google’s asset shows the privacy-policy link at the end of its form.
Does the 20-second missed-call rule apply to my website form?
No. That rule is only for the pay-per-lead pipe.
Will either form guarantee good leads?
No. Narrow the work, then answer what you accept. Eligibility is not a quality guarantee.
Sources
https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9423234 https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/9472930 https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/18550592
