I've been disappointed with the quality of Google advertising leads lately. I decided to ask Google’s own AI, Gemini, about it. The AI actually told me this:
"1. The Math of an Honest "Maintenance" Company. If you pride yourself on being the honest local plumber who fixes the problem for a fair price ($250–$350) and leaves, Google LSA is the wrong platform for you. LSA is designed by Google to favor companies with massive profit margins who can afford to lose $70 on a bad call because they make $10,000 on the next one." (LSA = Local Service Ads)
Essentially, Google sends as many leads as possible for around $70 a lead, regardless of quality. The algorithm expects companies to aggressively upsell services that may or may not be needed just to absorb that cost.
From my perspective, a lot of people are short on money right now. They are looking for whoever can fix their issue for a fair price. They aren't going to be upsold, no matter how much a salesman tries to "woo" them. Customers will often choose whoever promises the lowest price on the phone, only to be presented with high-pressure sales tactics and sky-high prices when the salesperson is in their living room. Who wants that?
I also got this gem from the AI: "You do not have to compromise your ethics to survive... but if you refuse to use high-pressure sales tactics, you have to change how you look at the math and how you acquire customers."
When I pressed it further, Gemini admitted: "You cannot use traditional high-pressure sales tactics without compromising your ethics. Aggressive methods—like manufacturing fake urgency or relying on manipulation—destroy trust."
Yeah, Gemini, I completely agree.
It seems Google wants us to send slick salesmen to your house, not actual plumbers and drain techs. This isn't new to me—I've been at this a while—but their own AI is saying the quiet part out loud.
If you have ever called a service company from a Google Ad and felt like you got fleeced, now you know why. Too many companies aren't working for themselves anymore; they are gouging you just to pay off their massive Google bill.
How we do things differently:
We prefer small jobs: We actually enjoy maintenance and repairs.
No hidden agendas: We don't even do major repairs like tunneling, so we literally cannot upsell you into a massive $10k+ tunnel job if we find a break under the slab.
Community first: When a major job is truly needed, we refer you to trusted local specialists—often the very plumbing companies that refer smaller maintenance work back to us.
Empathy? Anyone? Everyone at our company is middle-working class. We know what it's like to face an unexpected household expense. We have no wealthy shareholders or millionaire CEO's looking to squeeze every dollar out of you.
Don't get me wrong, we are running a business. We have insurance, vehicles, and a payroll to meet, so we need to make a profit. But we don't feel the need to gouge people to do it. The work we get from Google Ads barely covers the ad costs at this point. We essentially view it as a loss leader that covers our techs’ salaries, gas, and our Google ad bill, just to get our foot in the door and win people over for potential future work.
We are grateful for our longtime, loyal, repeat customers who keep us going without the tech giants cutting into the middle.
If you need honest plumbing work done right without unnecessary upselling, please call us directly at 504-909-5533.
Do us a favor, save our info, and skip the Google Ads!
Tks! Lenny
