Google’s migration of Local Services Ads into Google Ads is now pulling in an inventory source that no law firm asked for. Waze ads are being bundled into the Performance Max campaign type that will house every LSA campaign. We posted about this on X and the reaction was not subtle. You can see our post here: https://x.com/AnthonyHigman/status/2097367163635966140?s=20
The technical reality is this. When your LSA campaigns migrate into Google Ads, they will become a specialized Performance Max campaign type with pay-per-lead goals. Performance Max campaigns for store goals already include Waze inventory as “Promoted Places in Navigation” pins. That integration rolled out in late 2025. Advertisers do not opt in. The system automatically extends to Waze. No extra setup is required. No creative uploads are needed. Your existing assets get pulled into the Waze placement automatically.
The LSA migration is scheduled in three waves. Home and storefront service advertisers move first. Legal categories are expected in Q4 2026. When law firms migrate, they inherit the Performance Max structure. That structure includes Waze inventory. There is no separate toggle to exclude it.
What This Means for Law Firms
Law firms do not advertise on Waze. They advertise to people who are actively searching for legal help. Waze is a navigation app. Users are driving. They are looking at a map, not researching attorneys. The intent profile is completely different from a Google Search query or a Maps search for a law firm.
The inventory mismatch matters because it introduces spend that cannot be attributed to meaningful legal intent. A driver sees a pin for a law firm on a navigation screen. That impression has no relationship to the legal research behavior that generates cases. If Performance Max decides to serve your legal campaign on Waze, that spend comes out of the same budget you use for Search and Maps placements.
The spam concern is also real. Waze is a less controlled inventory environment than Google Search. It has been targeted by spam and low quality advertisers before. When LSA campaigns move into Performance Max, they inherit that environment. Legal advertisers who have spent years building compliance frameworks and tight targeting on LSA will now share an inventory pool with advertisers who are not held to the same standards.
The lack of opt-out is the part that should concern firms most. Google is not asking whether law firms want Waze placement. It is telling them. The same pattern has repeated across Google Ads throughout 2026. AI Max became the default destination for campaigns using legacy features. Limited ad serving was pushed across all products. Now LSA migration brings forced inventory expansion. The direction is consistent. Google decides where your budget goes. You decide how much you are willing to spend while it does.
Our Take
We posted about this with some frustration because the pattern is exhausting. Every time Google says a migration “won’t be a big deal,” another inventory source or automation feature gets attached to it. Waze is the latest example. The Performance Max structure that houses LSA is not a neutral container. It comes with placement decisions built in.
We are not opposed to testing new inventory. There are accounts and campaigns where automated placement decisions find opportunities that manual targeting would miss. But legal advertising is not a category where “more placements” automatically means “better results.” A Waze pin for a personal injury attorney is not the same signal as a Maps listing for a plumber. The intent is different. The context is different. The economics are different.
The bigger issue is transparency. If Waze spend is flowing through your Performance Max campaign, how will you see it? Performance Max reporting has historically been opaque. Channel performance reporting was expanded in late 2025, but segmenting spend by placement inside a pay-per-lead LSA migration is not the same as segmenting a standard Performance Max campaign. Firms may find themselves paying for Waze impressions without a clear way to measure their impact or isolate them from Search and Maps leads.
What ADSQUIRE Is Doing
We are preparing for the LSA migration now, and Waze inventory is part of the planning. That means:
- Exporting historical LSA performance reports before migration to preserve the baseline
- Reviewing current LSA bidding and budget structures to understand how Performance Max will change them
- Documenting the Waze inventory inclusion and what it means for each client’s spend
- Testing whether Performance Max reporting can isolate Waze placements or if spend is blended
- Comparing lead quality before and after migration once the new campaign type is live
- Advising clients on whether separate campaigns are needed to protect Search and Maps budgets from broader inventory
- Monitoring Google’s rollout timeline for legal categories in Q4 2026
- Watching for any opt-out mechanism that Google may add, and documenting if none appears
For law firms, the objective is not to fight the migration. It is to understand what the new campaign type includes, measure what it produces, and protect the budget from inventory that does not serve legal intent.
Conclusion
Google’s LSA migration into Performance Max comes with forced Waze ad inventory. Law firms will inherit that placement whether they want it or not. The intent mismatch is real. The attribution challenge is real. The spam exposure is real.
The migration is happening. Legal categories move in Q4 2026. Firms that export their historical data, review their bidding structure, and prepare for the new campaign type will be better positioned than those that wait for the migration email. Firms that assume Performance Max will behave like LSA are in for a surprise. The container is different. The inventory is different. The control is different. Prepare accordingly.
