Google Maps ads: costs, types and when to pay

Google Maps ads are paid spots inside Google Maps: promoted pins on the map, sponsored listings at the top of a Maps search, sponsored suggestions as people type, and ads on a business's details page. You can't buy them on their own. They come from Google Ads campaigns that also run on Search, and they need a verified Business Profile or location assets.

This guide covers the four kinds, what a click costs on real local searches, how to set ads up, who can't use the simplest route, and how to tell whether you need ads at all. That last question starts with where you already show for free, so before you spend anything, the free local rank checker checks one search from 25 spots around your business, with no account needed.

The four kinds of Google Maps ads

Google lists four: promoted pins, map search ads, map suggest ads and placesheet ads. Its help page on advertising in Google Maps describes each, and the table sums it up.

The catch is on the same page: "Currently, you can't serve ads exclusively in Google Maps." Google adds that chosen campaigns "may automatically serve on multiple surfaces", so part of what you spend will go on Search and Google's other places too.

To show at all, Google says "You must provide the location of your business, have an eligible campaign and meet Google Ads policy standards."

How much do Google Maps ads cost?

There's no set price. You set a budget, your ad competes in an auction with other advertisers, and what you're charged for depends on the campaign. Google says "Promoted pins are either charged by views or clicks, depending on campaign type." It doesn't publish a separate price for Maps, so the best public guide is what advertisers bid for the same searches on Google.

We pulled Google Ads keyword data for nine local searches in Portsmouth on 18 October 2026. The figures are the range advertisers bid to appear at the top of Google for each search, from the low end to the high end, per click.

Google Ads bids · 18 Oct 2026Real data

The chart also covers hairdresser, dentist, solicitor and boiler repair searches, from £0.26 to £0.93 a click for a hairdresser up to £3.85 to £14.10 for boiler repair. Source for all nine: Google Ads keyword data for the United Kingdom, read through DataForSEO on 18 October 2026.

Take a made-up plumber in Southsea bidding on "plumber portsmouth". Ten clicks a week at the low end of that range comes to £43.50; at the high end, £226.80. Google's page on actual cost per click says you're often charged less, sometimes much less, than your maximum bid, so treat the range as something to plan around rather than a bill.

On Maps, a click can be someone expanding your ad, asking for directions or tapping to call. Google's page on local search ads on Maps lists those three, and you can see which happened by segmenting your report by click type. For Smart campaigns, Google's page on clicks and costs says "You only pay for ad clicks and calls to your business from your ads."

How to advertise on Google Maps

There are two routes: straight from the Google Maps app, or through a Google Ads account.

From the Google Maps app, following Google's page on advertising your business:

1. Verify your Business Profile first. Google says "Before you can set up an ad campaign for your Business Profile, you must verify your business." Our guide to verifying your Google Business Profile goes through it.
2. Open the Google Maps app, tap Business, then Advertise, then Get started.
3. Follow the steps. Google recommends a daily budget from what it knows about your business, and you can choose your own and change it at any time.

Not every profile can take this route. In Google's words: "Service area businesses and businesses in sensitive categories aren't eligible." If you hide your address because you go out to customers, as plumbers, electricians and cleaners often do, the Maps app route is closed to you.

Through Google Ads, from Google's two Ads help pages:

1. Link your Business Profile to your Google Ads account. Promoted pins need it.
2. Switch on location assets. Map search ads need them.
3. Choose a campaign that can show on Maps. Google names Search with location assets, Smart, Performance Max and Demand Gen.
4. Target the area you serve and use keywords that match local searches, such as the trade and the town.
5. After a few weeks, segment your report by click type to see how many people asked for directions or called.

Google's page on local search ads tells businesses that visit customers to set their profile up as a service area business, so if the Maps app route is closed to you, Google Ads is the one to look at.

Do Google Maps ads help your ranking?

No. Google's page on how local ranking works is plain about it: "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." An ad sits in its own slot marked Sponsored. When the campaign stops, the ad goes, and your free position is wherever your profile has earned.

That free position is decided by things like your category, how close the searcher is and your reviews. Our guide to the Google 3-pack explains who gets the top three places, and ranking higher on Google Maps goes through what moves you up.

Ads or your free listing: where an ad earns its keep

Your free Maps position isn't one number. It changes from street to street, because distance from the searcher is one of the things Google ranks on. So before you buy an ad, look at where you show across your area and sort it into three kinds of place:

1. Where you're already in the top three. An ad there sits above a listing people can already tap for free.
2. Where you're fourth to twentieth. Work on your profile and reviews may get you into the top three. An ad can cover the gap while it does.
3. Where you're not in the top 20 at all. Someone searching there won't see you without scrolling a long way, so this is where an ad buys something your free listing doesn't have yet.

Dashboard · MapExample

Google Ads lets you set bids by location, so you can put more behind the areas where you're missing and less where you already show. Our guide to the Google Maps heatmap explains how to read a map like this. If you're missing almost everywhere, fix that before you pay for anything: see why your business isn't showing on Google Maps.

Kerbrank reads your map every week from spots across your area and weighs each search by how often it's searched and what advertisers pay per click, so the searches that would cost most to buy count most in your score. You can start a 14-day free trial and see your first map once the first reading is done.

Before you spend: a short checklist

1. Your profile is verified and complete, with the right main category. Our guide to Google Business Profile optimisation covers the basics.
2. You know where you show for free, from the free check above or your own map.
3. You know what a new customer is worth, so you know the most a click can cost before it stops paying.
4. You start small and look at calls and direction requests by click type after a few weeks.
5. If you're a trade, you've also looked at Local Services Ads, where you pay per lead. Our guide to local SEO for plumbers and trades has more on those.

Common questions