Google changed the terms of service for their 'Local Services Ads' program in the US and Canada. These changes allow Google to collect and analyze phone calls and chat messages between businesses and customers who got in contact through an advertisement.
Background
LSA is a program designed for businesses to advertise their services in the Google search-engine as well as Google Maps. Once a business signs up it will go through a verification process where the necessary licenses, certificates and insurance documents are verified by Google. Following this step, a business may receive a verification check-mark and can officially start an ad-campaign.
If an ad-campaign is started, the respective business will appear higher in the search results and will be marked with the word 'sponsored'. This leads to in an increased reach and may attract more customers.
[Incident]
As of May 2025, Google requires participating companies to comply with their new Terms of Services.
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