I’m not sure exactly when it started but I recently noticed that owner responses to customer reviews are now appearing on Google Local Services Ads… but so far only on mobile.
Here is a screenshot showing a ‘Response from the owner’ to a customer review on LSA:
I have only seen owner responses on mobile. Here is a screenshot of the same review on the same Local Services Ads, but on desktop, showing that the owner response is missing:
Where are the owner responses coming from?
Google Business Profiles, formerly known as Google My Business (GMB). While it’s possible for a user to leave a review directly on a Local Services Ads, the majority of the reviews are sourced from Google Business Profiles. The reviews, review count and review rating on a Local Services Ad are a combination of both LSA-sourced reviews and GMB-sourced reviews.
Can you respond to LSA reviews?
No, it is still not possible for a business to respond to a review a customer left directly on LSA. The owner responses that are showing on mobile are only from Google Business Profiles. I still do not see an option to respond to reviews from within the Google Local Services Ads dashboard.
Why does it matter if owner review responses are present?
Many business owners realize it’s important to respond to reviews on their Google Business Profiles. This is particularly true for negative reviews. It gives the business a chance to address the issue and try to make it right, explain their side of the story, and most importantly, let potential customers see how they treat an unhappy customer.
Excluding these owner responses on LSA has been a negative for both users and business owners. Google appears to finally be porting over business owner responses along with the reviews from Google Business Profiles. Hopefully, they will also add the ability for businesses to respond to reviews left directly on Local Services Ads.