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How CallWarden Compares to Manual Reviews & Legacy LSA Agencies
Three ways to get your bad Local Services leads credited: an office manager working through them by hand, a call-review service or agency, or CallWarden doing it through Google’s own API with your approval.
| Criteria | Doing it by hand (office manager) | Call-review services & agencies | CallWarden ($129–$249/mo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15-day duplicate detection | Sorting lead exports by phone number in a spreadsheet, when someone has the time. | Typically a periodic manual check of your lead list. | Every new lead is matched automatically on phone number and tracking extension against the last 15 days. |
| Missed-call bot floods (Google’s 20-second rule, since Oct 1, 2026) | Found on the invoice, after you’ve paid for them. | Typically reviewed after the fact, not in real time. | Shield’s circuit breaker watches new calls around the clock and pauses your Local Services campaigns (and Performance Max with Local Services) when a burst trips it, then alerts you. |
| Rating invalid leads for credit (Google’s lead feedback) | Opening each lead and filling in Google’s “Rate this lead” survey by hand. | Someone on their team fills in the survey for you. | Sent through Google’s own lead-feedback API. Approve each one in a tap from email, Slack, Microsoft Teams or Discord (Co-Pilot), or let high-confidence claims go on their own (Autopilot). |
| Account and budget security | Whoever does it needs access to your Local Services account. | Usually manager-account (MCC) access, which can change budgets, bids and ads. | The Budget Firewall blocks CallWarden in code from changing budgets, bids, targeting or ads. It can only rate leads, reply to message leads, and pause or resume campaigns. |
| Recovering the last 30 days on day one | Hours of reviewing old leads and listening to recordings. | Onboarding and account access come first. | Connect in about a minute. A read-only 30-day audit shows which charged leads Google can still credit. |
15-day duplicate detection
- Doing it by hand (office manager)
- Sorting lead exports by phone number in a spreadsheet, when someone has the time.
- Call-review services & agencies
- Typically a periodic manual check of your lead list.
- CallWarden ($129–$249/mo)
- Every new lead is matched automatically on phone number and tracking extension against the last 15 days.
Missed-call bot floods (Google’s 20-second rule, since Oct 1, 2026)
- Doing it by hand (office manager)
- Found on the invoice, after you’ve paid for them.
- Call-review services & agencies
- Typically reviewed after the fact, not in real time.
- CallWarden ($129–$249/mo)
- Shield’s circuit breaker watches new calls around the clock and pauses your Local Services campaigns (and Performance Max with Local Services) when a burst trips it, then alerts you.
Rating invalid leads for credit (Google’s lead feedback)
- Doing it by hand (office manager)
- Opening each lead and filling in Google’s “Rate this lead” survey by hand.
- Call-review services & agencies
- Someone on their team fills in the survey for you.
- CallWarden ($129–$249/mo)
- Sent through Google’s own lead-feedback API. Approve each one in a tap from email, Slack, Microsoft Teams or Discord (Co-Pilot), or let high-confidence claims go on their own (Autopilot).
Account and budget security
- Doing it by hand (office manager)
- Whoever does it needs access to your Local Services account.
- Call-review services & agencies
- Usually manager-account (MCC) access, which can change budgets, bids and ads.
- CallWarden ($129–$249/mo)
- The Budget Firewall blocks CallWarden in code from changing budgets, bids, targeting or ads. It can only rate leads, reply to message leads, and pause or resume campaigns.
Recovering the last 30 days on day one
- Doing it by hand (office manager)
- Hours of reviewing old leads and listening to recordings.
- Call-review services & agencies
- Onboarding and account access come first.
- CallWarden ($129–$249/mo)
- Connect in about a minute. A read-only 30-day audit shows which charged leads Google can still credit.
The middle columns describe typical approaches, not any particular company. Google decides every credit. The 20-second missed-call rule and the 15-day duplicate window are explained in our missed-call guide and duplicate guide; how the Budget Firewall works is on our security page.
See what Google owes you before you decide
The audit is free and read-only. Connect in about a minute and see your last 30 days.