How to dispute a Google Local Services lead in 2026, before and after the move to Google Ads

Manual disputes are gone. Here’s what replaced them

Until mid-2024, you could open a lead and file a dispute. Google retired that form in a rollout that began in July 2024 and replaced it with two things:

• Automated credits. Google assesses each lead when the customer first gets in touch and doesn’t charge for ones it judges invalid or low quality. Charged leads are reassessed over time and can be credited automatically later.
• The Lead Feedback Survey, better known by its button, “Rate this lead.” Google’s help center says a lead can be credited “either through autocrediting or as a bonus credit for leaving feedback.”

Google says credits are applied to your account balance within 30 days in most cases, and the original charge still shows on your invoice. That’s why a lead can look charged on your bill and still come back as a credit.

What still earns a credit, and what doesn’t

The last two rows are the trap. Google says plainly that it “no longer supports credits” for job-type-not-serviced and geo-not-serviced leads. Rating those won’t help; changing your Local Services settings will.

How to rate a lead in the Local Services dashboard

1. Open your Local Services Ads dashboard and go to Leads.
2. Open the lead you want to report.
3. Click Rate this lead in the top right, then Open.
4. Answer the survey honestly and pick the reason that matches: spam, sales call, wrong number, duplicate.
5. Submit. Watch the lead’s status: “In review,” then “Credited” if Google agrees.

The same survey through the Google Ads API

The survey also exists in the Google Ads API as ProvideLeadFeedback. Software like CallWarden sends a survey answer and a reason (spam, duplicate, solicitation and a few others). Google replies with a decision: a bonus credit issued, or none, either because the lead isn’t eligible or because the account has reached Google’s limit on these credits. It’s the same survey, sent by software instead of by hand.

What changes when Local Services moves into Google Ads

Google is retiring the standalone Local Services dashboard. Each account moves into Google Ads as a Performance Max campaign with pay-per-lead goals. You still pay per valid lead, not per click, and ads still appear on Search and Maps.

• Notice: Google emails account administrators 14 days before the move, with a reminder 7 days later.
• Your leads: lead history transfers. In Google Ads, leads live under Goals → Conversions → Leads, with the charged status, lead type, a lead feedback form and downloads.
• Reports: historical performance reports don’t transfer. Download them first if you compare years or report to clients.
• Bidding: manual bidding and category-level target CPA are retired in favor of one campaign-level target. Weekly budgets become average daily budgets.
• Conversions: in the migrated campaign, “Conversions” counts the leads you’re charged for.

To rate a lead after the move, open it from Goals → Conversions → Leads in Google Ads and use the lead feedback form. The 30-day credit window and the rules above don’t change.

How CallWarden handles disputes for you

1. Waits 24 hours. Google’s own first pass credits some leads quickly, so CallWarden doesn’t rate a lead until that window has passed and it has re-read the lead’s credit status.
2. Finds the invalid ones. Repeat callers within 15 days, robocalls, silent and short calls, sales pitches and wrong numbers. Call recordings (through the optional Chrome extension) get a transcript and an AI verdict with the quote and timestamp.
3. Rates them with the right reason. In Co-Pilot mode (the default) you approve each one first. In Autopilot, high-confidence claims go on their own.
4. Follows up. CallWarden checks credit status on day 21. If a lead still isn’t credited by day 28, it builds a one-line evidence pack you can paste into a Google support request.

Want to see how much is at stake first? Run the waste calculator, or read how the 20-second missed-call rule changed what you’re charged for.