Google Ads, lead generationMedia buying
2.41Kconversions
- £19.21cost per conversion
- £0.57average cost per click
- £46.3Kspend managed
Pest control Google Ads
Google Ads for pest control, run pest by pest and season by season
Your ad budget is the same in February as in July, and one campaign covers wasps, rats and termites alike. So the money runs out by lunchtime in summer, and in winter it pays for people searching how to set a mouse trap.
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The searches to buy and the searches to block
A pest control account is easier to run once every search is sorted into one of four piles.
- Urgent, by pest. “Wasp nest removal near me”, “bed bug exterminator”, “rat exterminator same day”, “emergency pest control”. Buy these while the phone is answered.
- High value, less urgent. “Termite treatment”, “termite inspection”, “rodent exclusion”, “bed bug heat treatment cost”. Buy these with a page that explains the job.
- Plans. “Quarterly pest control service”, “monthly pest control near me”, “mosquito control service”. Buy these on a separate budget.
- Do it yourself. “Best ant killer”, “how to get rid of mice”, “wasp spray”, “bed bug trap”, “homemade roach bait”. Block these.
There is a fifth group that surprises owners. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 13,700 openings a year for pest control workers, and people looking for those jobs, and for the license exam, type “pest control” too.
The pest control page sets out the trade as a whole. What follows is how the ad account is built.
Why one campaign for all pests wastes the budget
Demand moves through the year pest by pest. The National Pest Management Association says termite infestations are often discovered in spring, when swarmers emerge indoors. It says rodents find their way into about 21 million US homes each winter.
In a single campaign with a single daily budget, whichever pest has the most searches that day takes the money. The cheap, common calls win. The termite searches, which are fewer and worth more, are shown when the budget has already gone. The account structure guide shows the general method. For this trade the unit is the pest.
How a pest control account is laid out
| Campaign | Example search | Budget is highest | Landing page | What you count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Termites | “termite treatment near me” | Spring | Termite page with inspection booking | Inspections booked, treatments sold |
| Stinging insects | “wasp nest removal” | Warm months, by your own call log | Short page with phone number and same-day hours | Answered calls, jobs done |
| Rodents | “mice in attic removal” | Fall and winter | Rodent page covering entry points and exclusion | Jobs booked, exclusion work sold |
| Bed bugs | “bed bug exterminator” | All year | Bed bug page with treatment options and preparation | Jobs booked |
| Plans | “quarterly pest control” | All year, steady | Plan page with what is covered | Plans started |
| Commercial | “restaurant pest control service” | All year, own budget | Commercial page with license and documentation | Site surveys booked |
Pay-per-lead ads for pest control
Pest control is one of the categories Google began moving from Local Services Ads into Google Ads in August 2026. They are now Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals. The ad positions on Search and Maps stay the same, and you pay for valid leads and not for clicks.
Google’s US screening list for pest control includes a state-level business license, a state-level owner license and general liability insurance. That matches the trade’s own rules. Texas, for one, requires a business license and insurance of not less than $500,000 for bodily injury and property damage.
Position in these ads depends on your bid and on responsiveness, rating, number of reviews and response time. In a trade where the customer wants someone today, a missed call costs you twice. You lose the job, and the ad slips. Texas firms can read Local Services Ads vs Google Ads for a fuller comparison.
What else goes wrong
Night-time ads with nobody on the phone. Unless a schedule is set, Google shows ads all day. Bed bug and rodent searches peak in the evening, so either staff the phone or stop the ads.
Old call-only ads. Google stopped allowing new ones in February 2026 and says existing ones stop showing in February 2027. Urgent campaigns should move to responsive search ads with a call asset now.
DIY clicks. Google states that negative keywords do not match close variants. “Trap” does not block “traps”.
Every ad lands on the homepage. A person who typed “wasp nest removal” should see wasps, a phone number and the hours you answer.
What it costs, and what we will not guess
The LocaliQ home services benchmark does not include pest control, and we will not make up a figure for it. The report’s average across home services is $7.85 a click and $90.92 a lead, from 3,211 US campaigns between April 2024 and March 2025. Use it as a rough guide only.
Your real cost per lead will differ by pest. The honest way to find it is to run the campaigns apart for one season and read the numbers. The Google Ads ROI calculator lets you test what you can afford per job before spending. We do not state a management fee here. Mavix gives a quote once the free review is done, and ads pricing explains the basis for it.
The first season, in order
Before spending. Call tracking is set up so each call is tied to a campaign, and so missed calls are counted.
First two weeks. Campaigns are split by pest. Schedules match answered hours. The negative list is built from the search terms report.
First two months. Budgets move toward the pests that book. Landing pages for the top two pests are built or rewritten.
Before each season. Budgets are reset from last year’s booked jobs by month.
How it is measured
You see cost per booked job by pest, the missed-call rate by hour, and plans started. A one-off wasp job and a termite treatment are never added into one average.
When Google Ads is the wrong first move
If calls go unanswered in the evening, more ads will make the problem more expensive.
If you want termite and rodent work every year without paying per click, the pages need to rank. That is SEO for pest control. For the map results, see local SEO for pest control. How accounts are run day to day is on the Google Ads service page.
Proof
The closest accounts we have published.
Not accounts in this trade. Two service businesses that sell through enquiries and calls, which is the same way this trade sells.
Meta, lead generationMedia buying
£2.68cost per lead
- 2,631leads delivered
- £0.77best ad set cost per lead
- 205Kpeople reached
Questions
Questions owners ask about this
01 What does a pest control lead cost on Google Ads?
We have not found a published benchmark for pest control that we trust. The LocaliQ home services report has no pest control line. Its average across home services was $7.85 a click and $90.92 a lead, which is the nearest sourced guide.
02 Should each pest have its own campaign?
Yes, for the pests that matter to you. A termite job and a wasp call are worth different amounts and peak at different times. Separate campaigns let you set a budget, a schedule and a landing page for each.
03 Can pest control companies run Local Services Ads?
Yes. Pest control is one of the US categories Google began moving into Google Ads in August 2026, as campaigns with pay-per-lead goals. You pay for valid calls and messages, and you must pass license and insurance screening.
04 How do we stop paying for DIY searches?
With negative keywords for words like spray, trap, bait, killer, repellent, homemade and store names. Google notes that negatives do not match close variants, so each plural and spelling is added. The search terms report is checked weekly.
05 Should the ads sell a one-off treatment or a plan?
The urgent searches want the one-off. Sell the plan on the visit and in the follow-up. Searches for quarterly or monthly pest control are different and should land on a plan page with their own budget.
06 What does Mavix charge to manage pest control ads?
We quote after a free review of the account. You are told where the spend is going by pest, which calls were missed and what we would change first.
Next step
Send the site. We will tell you what we would fix first.
A written review of your search, ads and follow-up, by a person. You keep the document whether you hire us or not.