Lead marking is a signal Google uses, and neglecting it degrades what you are sent over time. It is not an immediate switch, but it is the cheapest thing in your account and most contractors do not do it.

On this page

• Why does marking LSA leads matter?
• What does marking LSA leads accurately mean?
• How does lead marking feed the number I manage to?
• Who should be responsible for marking leads?

Why does marking LSA leads matter?

Lead marking is one of the few structured feedback channels the product gives you. Since per-lead disputes were removed, it is close to the only one.

Marking accurately tells the system which leads were real and which were not, and that shapes subsequent delivery. Leaving everything unmarked gives it nothing to work with.

What does marking LSA leads accurately mean?

Booked, not booked, and the honest reason. Not "archive everything to keep the inbox clean."

Marking a junk lead as booked because it is faster teaches the system to send more like it. That is a slow, self-inflicted wound and it is common.

How does lead marking feed the number I manage to?

Lead marking is also the input to the number you should actually be managing to. If your booked markings match your booking system, you can compute cost per booked job directly from the platform. If they do not, you cannot, and you are back to managing on cost per lead — a number the platform can see but the business cannot spend.

Who should be responsible for marking leads?

The failure is almost always operational rather than strategic. The person answering the phone knows whether it booked; the person logging into the dashboard does not, and is doing it days later from memory.

Put the marking next to the booking, not next to the reporting.

Related questions

Why am I getting fake leads and spam form fills from Google Ads, and how do I stop them?

Most spam form fills are bots harvesting public forms, not a Google Ads problem — but if they are counted as conversions they corrupt your bidding, which turns a nuisance into a real cost. Read the full answer.

I increased my LSA budget 50% and barely got more leads — why did my cost per lead go up?

Because budget was not your constraint. If you were not paced out, extra budget buys you nothing except a higher position in auctions you were already winning — which costs more per lead without producing many more of them. Read the full answer.

My Google Ads location targeting is set to my service area, but I keep getting leads from outside it. Why, and how do I stop it?

Check your location targeting setting first — the default includes people merely showing interest in your area, not only people in it. That single setting causes most of these, and it is one click. Read the full answer.

Written by Usama Khan, who runs Google Ads for e-commerce brands and home-services companies at AdventurAds. Figures are from accounts under active management and are anonymised. Last reviewed 2026-08-26.