Local Services by Google expands beyond US into Canada

The company is also running a test in the U.S. to show the number of local bookings businesses have received.

Google’s lead generation program for small local service providers marked its first forays beyond the U.S. this week.

Why you should care

Local Services by Google is launching in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada. The program is starting with three verticals: locksmiths, plumbers and HVAC service providers. Kim Spalding, global director of SMB Ads at Google, said the markets appealed because Google has seen significant search demand for these kinds of services in these locations.

Local Services has steadily expanded since its launch (under the name Home Services) in San Francisco in 2015. A year ago it was available in 17 cities. Spalding said it’s now available in 13 home services verticals in more than 90 markets in the U.S. The company also says it’s seen roughly 5x growth in the number of advertisers in the local services program.

This is a relatively crowded field. There is the duo of Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor, and Amazon launched its home services program a few months ahead of Google in 2015. Amazon Home Services expansion beyond the U.S. went to three markets in the UK in May.

Local Services ads appear at the very top of the search results. Advertisers pay for leads relevant to the services they offer.

More about Local Services by Google

• As in the U.S., approved Local Services ads in Canadian Markets will appear with the Google Guarantee badge as well as customer ratings and reviews.
• Last year, Google launched a Local Services app for service providers to manage their ads and respond to leads.
• Spalding also confirmed an experiment to show the number of bookings a provider has received in a searcher’s local area in the ads. See an example of this test below.