Google confirmed on September 1, 2026 that a bug is unlinking Local Service Ads accounts from their associated Google Business Profiles, pausing ads for affected advertisers. Ginny Marvin, Google Ads Liaison, said the team identified the issue and is actively working on a fix. If your leads dried up overnight, this bug is the likely cause, not a policy violation on your end.
For home service businesses running Local Service Ads, this is not a small glitch. A paused LSA campaign means zero calls, zero booked jobs, and no visible "Google Guaranteed" badge in local search results while the account sits in limbo. Several advertisers have already reported multi-day outages while waiting on support.
This article covers what advertisers are actually seeing, what Google has said so far, and the concrete steps to check your account and get relinked faster.
What Advertisers Are Reporting
The pattern showing up across advertiser forums and the Google Business Profile community is consistent:
- The Local Service Ads dashboard suddenly shows no linked Google Business Profile, even though nothing was changed on the advertiser's side.
- Business Verification status flips from "Complete" back to "In Progress," with no clear next action offered.
- Some advertisers get a 500 error when clicking the Google Business Profile link inside LSA settings.
- Emails arrive stating the ad "isn't live anymore" and has stopped showing in search results.
- One advertiser reported their longest-running LSA profile went dark for over 2.5 days before support could intervene.
Realtime lead delivery and impressions drop to zero for the duration the accounts stay unlinked, since Local Service Ads cannot serve without an active Google Business Profile connection.
Google's Official Response
Ginny Marvin addressed the issue directly, stating: "We identified a bug and are actively working to resolve it." She also clarified that this bug is unrelated to the broader migration of Local Service Ads into the standard Google Ads platform as a pay-per-lead Performance Max campaign type, which is happening on a separate timeline.
Google phone support has confirmed to multiple advertisers that this is a widespread issue, not an isolated account problem, and has escalated affected cases to the Advanced Verification team. As of this writing, Google has not published a confirmed fix or a timeline for full resolution.
A Possible Trigger: Service Area Businesses Without a Listed Address
One advertiser thread points to a specific pattern worth checking if you run a Service Area Business (SAB), meaning a business that serves customers at their location rather than a fixed storefront. In at least one reported case, the unlinking happened right after a license renewal, and the missing link appears connected to the address field that SAB profiles normally leave blank or minimal.
If your Local Service Ads account is set up as an SAB, treat this as a priority area to check first, since it may be more exposed to the bug than storefront businesses with a full address on file.
What to Check Right Now
Before contacting support, confirm exactly what state your account is in. This saves time on the call and gives support a clearer starting point.
- Open your Local Service Ads dashboard and check whether a Google Business Profile is still shown as linked.
- Check your Business Verification status - look specifically for a status that reverted from "Complete" to "In Progress."
- Try clicking through to your Google Business Profile from inside LSA settings and note whether you get a 500 error or another failure.
- Check your email for a notice saying your ad "isn't live anymore" or citing a "data mismatch" between your profile and your ads.
- Take screenshots of the current state before you do anything else - this is useful evidence if you need to escalate.
How to Get Relinked
Google has not published a self-service fix, so the current path runs through support:
- Contact Google Ads / Local Services support directly through the official support form, not just phone support, and reference the known bug.
- If phone support cannot resolve it, ask explicitly for escalation to the Advanced Verification team, since that is where confirmed cases are being routed.
- Avoid unlinking and manually relinking your profile yourself unless a support agent tells you to. Several advertisers who tried this reported the problem got worse, not better.
- If you recently renewed your license or updated business details, mention that explicitly to support, since it lines up with at least one reported trigger pattern.
Should You Wait or Escalate?
If your account has been unlinked for less than a day, it is reasonable to monitor the situation and check again in a few hours, since Google has acknowledged the bug and is actively working on it. If you are past 24 to 48 hours with no movement, escalate directly rather than waiting - several advertisers only got resolution after being routed to the Advanced Verification team specifically.
While you wait, review your broader local SEO for AI search setup so your Google Business Profile stays strong on its own, independent of the LSA connection. A well-optimized profile recovers faster once the link is restored.
FAQ
Is my Local Service Ads account banned or suspended? No. This is a confirmed Google-side bug affecting the connection between Local Service Ads and Google Business Profile, not a policy violation or account suspension. Google has acknowledged the issue publicly.
Will I be charged for ads that were not running while unlinked? Local Service Ads is a pay-per-lead model, so if your ad was not live and generating leads, you should not be charged for that period. Confirm this directly with support if you see unexpected charges.
Is this connected to the migration of LSA into Google Ads? No. Google's Ads Liaison specifically stated this bug is unrelated to the ongoing migration of Local Service Ads into the Google Ads platform as a Performance Max campaign type. They are two separate processes running at the same time.
How long will the bug last? Google has not published a fixed timeline. As of early September 2026, the issue is still active and escalated internally, so monitor official Google Ads channels for updates rather than assuming a specific resolution date.
Are Service Area Businesses more likely to be affected? Based on advertiser reports, businesses without a listed physical address (SAB setups) may be more exposed, particularly around the time of a license renewal, though Google has not confirmed this as the root cause for all cases.
Bottom Line
If your Local Service Ads went dark without warning in early September 2026, check your Business Verification status and GBP link first, document what you see, and escalate to Google support with a direct request for the Advanced Verification team if it is not resolved within a day or two. This is a known, acknowledged bug, not something you caused - but getting relinked still depends on getting your case in front of the right team quickly.
