Google Ads Kills Featured Professionals in Local Services Ads

Google will stop showing featured professionals in Local Services Ads starting in October, according to a notice the company posted inside advertisers' Google Ads accounts. The same notice makes headshots optional and says the photo choice will not affect ad serving.

Anthony Higman, an advertiser who spotted the notice, shared a screenshot on X. The notice reads: "Starting in October, featured professionals will no longer show on your ads. Headshot is optional and won't affect ad serving. The rest of your ad, including photos, reviews, and more, won't change."

Higman flagged the scale of the change for legal marketers. He wrote on X: "WHOA. Big LSA change for lawyers. Starting in October featured professionals will no longer show on your ads. Headshot is optional and wont affect ad serving. I knew they were doing something wonky with photos here. it started in the beginning of this month."

What exactly is disappearing?

Google's Local Services Ads product let firms attach individual professionals — for example, named lawyers at a practice — and feature one of them directly in the ad. That capability appears to be going away entirely with the October change.

The notice says the rest of the ad format stays intact. Photos, reviews, and other listing elements will not change, according to Google's message to advertisers.

For verticals that rely on practitioner identity — legal, financial services, home services — the featured professional slot was a way to put a named, credentialed person in front of searchers before the click. Its removal shifts the ad back toward firm-level branding.

When did the signs appear?

Higman had flagged the headshot shift weeks before the formal notice. He posted a screenshot on LinkedIn showing lawyer listings rendering without headshots. That visual change, he said, started at the beginning of this month.

In his X post, Higman speculated on a possible follow-up: "I bet they just link GBP photos to it then lol." That is his guess, not a Google statement — the company has not confirmed any plan to tie Google Business Profile photos into Local Services Ads.

What is confirmed versus speculated?

Confirmed by Google, via the in-account notice:

• Featured professionals stop showing on Local Services Ads starting in October.
• Headshots become optional.
• Headshot presence will not affect ad serving.
• Photos, reviews, and other ad components remain unchanged.

Speculation from the advertiser community:

• Higman's suggestion that Google may link GBP photos to LSA listings.
• The assumption that the professionals-management section in the account, which let firms add staff like lawyers, is being fully retired rather than redesigned.

The notice includes a "learn more" link pointing to a Google help document. As of this reporting, that document did not yet contain language matching the notice, which suggests Google's help pages lag the rollout announcement — worth rechecking as October approaches.

Who feels this most?

Law firms are the clearest case. Higman framed the change specifically as a "Big LSA change for lawyers," and his screenshots showed attorney listings. Firms that invested in professional headshots and staff profiles inside Google Ads lose that surface area.

The headshot-optional element cuts both ways. Advertisers who skipped headshots previously faced a gap in their listing; after October, that gap carries no serving penalty, per Google's notice. That lowers the production burden for smaller operators while removing a differentiator for firms that leaned on practitioner photos.

What to watch next

Monitor the linked help document for updated policy language, watch live LSA listings through the October cutover for how Google fills the space the featured professional occupied, and watch for any Google statement on whether Business Profile photos get pulled into Local Services Ads — Higman's prediction remains unconfirmed.