We’ve all watched as Google has become more and more of a pay-to-play scheme. Paid ads keep gobbling up more and more of the search results page. Google has monetized the top of local searches with Local Services Ads, and seemingly every change pushes organic results farther down the page.
For small businesses, that means competing with the deep pockets of national chains, big regional players, and private equity-backed competitors just to get noticed. It doesn’t matter how good you are at your trade or how much effort you’ve put into building your online reputation. If the big guys can afford to outspend you, Google keeps finding new ways to put them front and center.
And now? Google is testing a way to make its paid listings even bigger. That means more scrolling before customers can reach the organic results, and potentially less visibility for the small businesses that have worked hard to earn their rankings.
Apparently, Google hasn’t finished squeezing the organic results just yet.
Your Business Can Rank #1 and Still Get Buried
On September 25, Search Engine Land reported that Google was testing a new design for Local Services Ads, the paid listings that appear when customers search for plumbers, electricians, HVAC contractors, and other local businesses.
The new design features larger photos and more prominent business information. That might sound like a minor cosmetic change, but for small businesses trying to compete without spending a fortune on advertising, the implications are significant.
Imagine spending years building your company’s reputation. You’ve earned great reviews, invested in your website, and worked hard to rank at the top of Google.
Now imagine a potential customer searching for your services on their phone. Instead of finding you, they’re greeted by a screen full of paid advertisements. They might have to scroll past several sponsored listings before they even reach your business.
Your rankings haven’t dropped. You haven’t done anything wrong. But your hard-earned visibility could be worth less because Google decided to give advertisers more room.
And who benefits when businesses feel compelled to purchase advertising just to remain visible? Google, of course.
So How Do Small Businesses Fight Back?
We can complain about how unfair this is until we’re blue in the face. And frankly, we’d have every right to. But Google isn’t going to change its business model because small business owners are unhappy about it.
So what are our options?
- Join the Local Services Ads. If Google is putting these paid listings front and center, you can pay to have your business appear there, too.
- Start running Google Ads. Traditional pay-per-click ads also appear above organic results. You can compete for that prime real estate instead of relying entirely on your SEO rankings.
- Find customers somewhere besides Google. AI tools like ChatGPT are becoming increasingly popular for researching businesses and services. Getting your business recommended or advertised there could open up a new source of leads.
- Do nothing. You can sit on your hands, complain about Google, and watch while competitors take advantage of the opportunities you’re ignoring.
We’re not suggesting everyone needs to immediately start spending hundreds or thousands of dollars more every month. But the first three options deserve serious consideration. Let’s look at why.
Option 1: Get Into Google’s Local Services Ads
If Google’s going to give Local Services Ads more screen space, why not try to get your business into that space?
LSAs are available to many home service businesses, including plumbers, electricians, HVAC contractors, and roofers. Unlike traditional Google Ads, you generally pay for leads rather than clicks.
The upside is straightforward: Your business can appear prominently where customers are already looking for help. The downside? You’re paying Google for leads you might once have earned through your organic visibility, and there’s no guarantee those leads will turn into paying jobs.
Still, if competitors are consistently showing up above you, LSAs may be worth testing.
Option 2: Fight Paid Ads With Paid Ads
Another option is to bite the bullet and start running traditional Google Ads.
These sponsored listings can appear above organic search results, putting your business in front of people actively searching for your services.
And you don’t necessarily need a massive budget to get started. Rather than advertising every service you offer, start with one or two of your most profitable services. Set a budget you’re comfortable testing, and see whether the calls and jobs justify the expense.
If the numbers work, great! If they don’t, adjust the campaign or stop spending.
At Prospect Genius, our Google Ads management services are designed to help small businesses compete without wasting their advertising budgets. We handle campaign setup, targeting, and optimization so your money has a better chance of producing actual customers.
Option 3: Stop Putting All Your Eggs in Google’s Basket
Here’s an idea: What if you didn’t have to depend quite so heavily on Google in the first place?
More people are using AI tools like ChatGPT to research products, compare companies, and find service providers. It’s another place customers can discover your business, and one that doesn’t require competing for space on Google’s increasingly ad-heavy search results.
For example, someone planning a bathroom renovation might ask ChatGPT which contractors serve their area, what questions to ask, or what a typical project should cost. You want your company to be among the businesses they discover during that research.
There are two ways to pursue that opportunity:
- AI Optimization: Make your business easier for AI-powered systems to discover, understand, and potentially recommend. Our AI Optimization Quick Start helps small businesses begin building that visibility.
- ChatGPT Ads: Explore paid advertising inside ChatGPT to reach people researching services and potential providers. Prospect Genius offers ChatGPT Ads management for businesses looking to test this emerging advertising channel.
Will AI traffic replace Google overnight? Of course not. And there’s no guarantee that AI recommendations or ads will produce leads for every type of business.
But the less dependent you are on Google, the less Google’s next money-making scheme can hurt you.
Option 4: Do Nothing and Hope for the Best
Technically, this is always an option. But it’s not one we’d recommend.
To be clear, Google’s larger Local Services Ads are still a test, not a confirmed permanent change. And nobody can say exactly how much this particular change might affect your website traffic.
But we don’t need to wait for the test results to recognize the larger problem. Google has been giving paid advertisements increasingly prominent positions for years.
And while you’re waiting for things to improve, your competitors may be busy buying the visibility you’re losing.
Don’t Spend a Fortune. Just Start Testing Your Options.
If you’ve been relying on your Google rankings to bring in customers, don’t assume those rankings will keep producing the same number of calls. Google is changing what customers see, and your marketing strategy needs to account for that.
Here’s one simple thing you can do today: Pull out your phone and search for your most important service, just like a customer would. See how many ads appear before your business. Then ask your marketing provider whether your organic calls and website clicks have been holding steady.
If the ads are dominating the screen, it may be time to test something new.
That doesn’t mean spending a fortune. It means picking an opportunity, setting a reasonable budget, and measuring whether it actually brings in customers.
Whether that’s Google Ads, AI Optimization, or ChatGPT advertising, Prospect Genius can help you evaluate your options and make a practical plan.
Google may be making it harder for the little guy to compete. But you don’t have to sit back and let the big guys take all the calls.
