Short answer: For a contractor, Google Ads should bring calls you can answer. In Florida, your state registration or certification number must appear in every advertisement, regardless of medium. Show your ads in the hours you take calls, add a call asset and block searches for jobs and parts.
Before you read: This guide sums up Google’s advertising policies and a Florida statute for contractors. It is general information, not legal advice. Ask your attorney about your own license and your ads.
Google’s rules for local services
Google’s local services policy limits ads for some trades, country by country. In the United States, ads for locksmith services and garage door repair services are restricted.
Those businesses must apply for advanced verification before they can advertise. The US entry names only those two trades, so plumbers, roofers and AC companies aren’t on it, in our reading of the list.
Google also warns about phone numbers. A number written elsewhere in your ad text may lead to the ad’s disapproval, so use a call asset for it.
Your Florida license number goes in the ad
Florida’s contracting law covers ads in any format. Section 489.119 says the registration or certification number of each contractor “shall appear in each offer of services, business proposal, bid, contract, or advertisement, regardless of medium.”
The statute’s definition of advertisement doesn’t include business stationery or promotional items such as balloons, pencils or clothing. In our reading, a Google ad is an advertisement, so the number belongs in a headline or a description.
A first offense brings a notice of noncompliance. The board may then fine or cite a contractor who doesn’t correct it within 30 days, or for any later offense.
When contractor searches peak in Miami
| Search | Slowest month | Busiest month |
|---|---|---|
| “plumber” | 8,100 | 27,100 in April 2026 |
| “ac repair” | 6,600 | 9,900 in May, July and August 2026 |
| “roofing contractor” | 1,300 | 5,400 in January 2026 |
| “emergency plumber” | 590 | 2,900 in July 2026 |
| “roof repair” | 590 | 2,400 in September 2026 |
Google Ads Keyword Planner: monthly searches in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area over the last 12 months, read on November 6, 2026.
Searches for “plumber” more than triple from the slowest month to the busiest one. Roofing contractor searches peaked in January 2026, and emergency plumber searches in July 2026.
In our view, plan the budget around those months, so there is room to spend more when searches rise.
Show your ads when you can answer
By default, Google Ads campaigns show ads all day. Ad scheduling lets you choose the days and hours your ads show, for example the hours when you can take calls.
Google says that with ad schedules, campaigns pace toward a monthly spend of 30.4 times the average daily budget, however many days they run in the month.
A call asset adds your phone number to your Search ads. You can set the number to appear only when your business can accept calls.
Our guide to Google Ads assets covers the call button and how it’s charged. Our Google Ads conversion tracking guide shows how to count those calls as conversions.
Block the searches that don’t bring work
Negative keywords let you exclude search terms from your campaigns, Google says. In our view, searches about jobs, training, salaries or parts rarely come from a customer who needs a repair.
They don’t match close variants, so Google says you’ll need to add synonyms and singular or plural versions, such as “job” and “jobs”. Our guide to negative keywords explains how to add them at the campaign or account level.
Search ads or Local Services Ads
Local Services Ads charge for each valid lead, a call, a message or a booking, not for clicks. Search ads charge for clicks.
Our guide to Local Services Ads covers how Google screens each business and what a lead costs. Our Google Ads location targeting guide shows how to show ads only where you work.
How to set up Google Ads for a contracting business
- Check whether your trade is on Google’s local services list. In the United States, locksmiths and garage door repair need advanced verification.
- Write your Florida registration or certification number into a headline or a description.
- Set your location targeting to the area you serve.
- Set an ad schedule for the hours you can take calls.
- Add a call asset with your business hours, instead of a phone number in the ad text.
- Add negative keywords for jobs, training, salaries and parts, in singular and plural.
- Count calls as conversions, so you know which searches bring work.
Steps 2, 6 and 7 are our own advice, based on those rules. The rest follows Google’s help pages.
Before your campaign goes live
- Your trade doesn’t need advanced verification, or you have it.
- Your registration or certification number is in the ad text.
- The ad schedule matches the hours you answer the phone.
- Your call asset shows only when you can take calls.
- Negative keywords block jobs, training and parts.
- Calls count as conversions.
RememberIn Florida, your registration or certification number goes in every ad. Show ads when you can answer, add a call asset with your hours and block job and parts searches.
Our Google Ads service runs search campaigns in accounts that stay in your name.
Questions about Google Ads for contractors
Do plumbers need Google’s advanced verification to advertise?
Not under Google’s local services policy in the United States. Its US entry restricts ads for locksmith services and garage door repair services, which must apply for advanced verification. Plumbers, roofers and AC companies aren’t on that list, though every advertiser still follows Google’s other policies.
Does my Florida license number have to be in my Google ads?
In our reading, yes. Section 489.119 says the registration or certification number of each contractor shall appear in each advertisement, regardless of medium. Its definition of advertisement doesn’t include business stationery or promotional items. This is general information, not legal advice.
Can I put my phone number in the ad text?
Google advises against it: a phone number written elsewhere in your ad text may lead to the ad’s disapproval. Use a call asset instead. It adds your number to your Search ads, and you can set it to show only when your business can accept calls.
When do contractor searches peak in Miami?
It depends on the trade. In Google’s Keyword Planner, searches for “plumber” in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area peaked in April 2026. “Roofing contractor” peaked in January 2026 and “emergency plumber” in July 2026, over the last 12 months.
Should a contractor use Local Services Ads or search ads?
They charge in different ways. Local Services Ads charge for each valid lead, a call, a message or a booking, while search ads charge for clicks. Our guide to Local Services Ads explains how Google screens each business and what a lead costs.
Sources
Sources read on November 6, 2026. From Google’s Advertising Policies Help and Google Ads Help: Local services, About Ad Scheduling, About negative keywords, About call assets. From the Florida Legislature: Section 489.119, Florida Statutes. From our site: our guide to Local Services Ads and our Google Ads page.