Has Your Law Firm’s GLSA Hit a Wall? Here's What You Need to Know

In recent weeks, we've observed a concerning trend among law firms leads—Google Local Services Ads (GLSA) performance has taken a steep decline. After thorough research and discussions with our dedicated GLSA rep team, we've uncovered key insights that can help law firms reverse this downturn and regain their competitive edge.

ID Verification Process

One of the major factors impacting GLSA performance is the ID Verification (IDV) process, which began rolling out this year. Our GLSA team has revealed, we are currently in Phase 3 of a four-phase rollout. If a law firm is in a market where this new phase was introduced, the verification requirements may have changed, potentially leading to ads being pulled.

Here’s what law firms should look out for:

Check your email: Firms should ensure they have received and responded to any emails from GLSA asking for updated verification information.

Submit verification: If no verification is submitted, ads can be pulled entirely. Make sure this step isn’t missed.

Match all data: The information on your law license and ID documents must match exactly. Even small discrepancies, like using a middle name in one place and a middle initial in another, can cause issues.

Teamwide implications: If one lawyer on the account has a verification issue, it can result in all lawyers on the GLSA account being affected. This means it’s essential to ensure every individual profile is in good standing to keep the entire firm’s ads live.

Rating Leads to Improve Auto-Credit

We want to emphasize the importance of rating your leads. Taking the time to accurately rate the quality of leads can help improve auto-credit functionality, which in turn can lead to better refunds for bad leads. For law firms that spend significant amounts on lead generation, this can make a big difference in optimizing costs and ensuring better ROI over time.

Competitive Landscape

The legal vertical is already known for being highly competitive in the GLSA space. One possibility for the recent drop in performance could simply be increased competition. With more law firms joining the platform and bidding for the same keywords, the market may be more saturated than before, leading to lower visibility and higher cost-per-acquisition (CPA).

To help better understand how competition is affecting your firm, we urge you to analyze your competitive landscape. It’s important to remain proactive and adjust your strategy to stay ahead.

GMB Verification for GLSA Accounts

Looking ahead, the GLSA team mentioned that there will be an upcoming requirement for all GLSA accounts to be tied to a Google My Business (GMB) profile. If your firm hasn’t already linked its GMB with its GLSA account, this would be a good time to get that process underway. Ensuring that your GMB information is accurate and up to date will also help with visibility and ranking in local search results.

No Major Backend Changes

While there’s been speculation about potential changes to GLSA’s backend, the team didn’t indicate anything substantial happening recently. The primary issues affecting law firms seem to be related to the IDV process rather than any large-scale algorithm or performance shifts on the platform. This means that, while performance issues like low volume and higher CPAs can be frustrating, they are likely tied to verification hurdles, increased competition, or other factors that we can address with strategic adjustments.

Next Steps

For law firms experiencing a drop off in GLSA performance, the solution may come down to a few simple steps:

Check ID verification requirements: Make sure that all documentation is submitted and that data matches exactly.

Optimize your GMB profile: Get ahead of the upcoming requirement by ensuring your GMB account is linked and up-to-date.

Rate your leads: Doing this regularly will improve your auto-credit system and help you recover costs from bad leads.

Stay aware of competition: The legal vertical is fierce—stay on top of competition reports and adjust your bids and strategies as necessary.

The drop off in GLSA performance isn’t unique, but it’s certainly fixable. With the right attention to detail and proactive steps, law firms can ensure their ads are back on track and performing optimally.

If you're struggling with these issues or need help navigating the GLSA process, feel free to reach out to our team for expert guidance.