The mechanics of the ad stay put.
Advertisers still pay for valid leads, meaning calls, messages and bookings, not clicks.
The ads still serve only on Google Search and Google Maps, in the same positions.
Targeting stays keywordless: you bid on job types within your service areas, not on search terms.
Verification badges transfer automatically, with no need to resubmit insurance or licence documents.
The controls do not.
Manual bidding is gone.
Setting a maximum cost per lead is no longer supported, and per-vertical Target CPA disappears with it.
A business running plumbing and air conditioning under one campaign with separate bid ceilings will wake up to a single blended campaign-level Target CPA.
Keeping distinct economics per trade means splitting into separate campaigns.
Weekly budgets convert to daily averages, with monthly spend capped at roughly 30.4 times the daily figure.
Reporting history does not survive.
Lead records transfer: contact details, message threads, call recordings.
Performance reports do not. Impressions, spend history and cost-per-lead trends stay behind, and the old dashboard becomes inaccessible on migration day.
Google’s own advice is to download historical data before your transition date, and to start straight away.
Account admins get an email 14 days out and a reminder at seven. If a business benchmarks seasonality year on year, that benchmark disappears unless someone exports it. Google keeps its copy of the data. The advertiser loses theirs unless they act.
The Business Profile becomes the source of truth.
Core campaign details now sync one way, from the Google Business Profile into Google Ads. Business name, address and hours cannot be edited inside the campaign at all.
Change them on the profile and they flow through automatically.
A significant change to a business name or address triggers a verification review of 24 to 48 hours, and the campaign can pause while it runs.