24,975 live ads from local service businesses
Local service ads run 18x longer on Google than on Meta
We grouped about 25,000 live ads from plumbers, dentists, HVAC, law firms and 6 more local niches across 20 US metros. The median Google ad has been running 443 days, the median Meta ad 25. Here's what that means for reading ad libraries, and which offers keep running.
- Published
- 2026/10/10
- Sample
- Ads still running on Google and Meta in 10 local-service niches across 20 US metros, October 2026
- Data from
- ProvenHits
"It's still running, so it must work" is how most people read an ad library. But how long counts as long depends on the network.
We took every ad still live in 10 local-service niches across 20 US metros and measured how long each one had been running: 20,559 Google ads from 1,354 businesses and 4,416 Meta ads from 620 businesses. Variants of the same ad count once.
Key findings
- Google ads are much older. The median live Google ad had been running for 443 days. The median Meta ad: 25 days. That's about 18x.
- The gap shows up in every niche, from about 7x in plumbing and law firms to about 40x in landscaping.
- Part of it is format. Search text ads are often set once and left alone. Meta creatives get rotated every few weeks. So this isn't proof that Google ads "work longer".
- On Meta, an ad past 60 days is rare. That makes it a strong winner signal.
- On Google, age says little on its own. The signal is which offers keep running across many unrelated businesses.
Median days running, by niche
| Niche | Meta | Google / Meta | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dental | 609 | 42 | 14.5x |
| Landscaping | 554 | 14 | 39.5x |
| Pest control | 548 | 17 | 32.2x |
| Electrical | 500 | 9 | small Meta sample |
| Chiropractic | 438 | 48 | 9.2x |
| Roofing | 422 | 25 | 16.9x |
| Law firm | 390 | 50 | 7.8x |
| HVAC | 381 | 16 | 23.8x |
| Plumbing | 366 | 50 | 7.4x |
| Med spa | 351 | 20 | 17.6x |
| All 10 | 443 | 25 | ~18x |
The sample behind each row, as live ads (businesses):
| Niche | Meta | |
|---|---|---|
| Dental | 2,581 (179) | 535 (74) |
| Landscaping | 918 (60) | 200 (33) |
| Pest control | 2,789 (151) | 351 (51) |
| Electrical | 793 (88) | 82 (25) |
| Chiropractic | 1,157 (141) | 300 (47) |
| Roofing | 1,637 (131) | 296 (51) |
| Law firm | 2,258 (154) | 741 (102) |
| HVAC | 4,708 (193) | 517 (93) |
| Plumbing | 2,894 (178) | 520 (67) |
| Med spa | 824 (79) | 874 (77) |
| All 10 | 20,559 (1,354) | 4,416 (620) |
Med spa is the only niche with more live ads on Meta than on Google.
The offers that keep running on Google
Long runs are normal on Google, so we looked at which angles many unrelated businesses keep paying for, and for how long.
| Niche | Angle | Businesses | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dental | Social proof | 168 of 210 | 609 |
| Pest control | Problem → fix | 135 of 154 | 466 |
| Chiropractic | Problem → fix | 129 of 179 | 323 |
| HVAC | Affordability | 156 of 198 | 318 |
| Law firm | Risk reversal | 126 of 165 | 264 |
| Plumbing | Problem → fix | 147 of 179 | 262 |
"Businesses" counts the unrelated businesses running that angle; "days" is the median those ads have been live. Offers that run under them:
- Dental: free consultation, payment plans
- Pest control: "free quote in under 5 minutes", free inspection
- Chiropractic: "$49 new patient special"
- HVAC: "AC replacement from $69.99/month, $0 down", "15% off any service"
- Law firm: "no fee until you win"
- Plumbing: "$79 drain cleaning", free quote
None of these are clever. Each one removes a reason to say no: trust, waiting, price, payment or risk.
On Meta, price gets the click and proof lasts
- Med spa: 52 of 72 businesses lead with a price, such as "Botox $12/unit for new patients" or "$100 off your first Botox or filler". Those ads run a median of 32 days. The 26 running before/after images keep them live for 71 days.
- Plumbing: 35 of 58 businesses lead with a problem and a fix, such as "$99 off drain cleaning". Those ads run a median of 87 days, long for Meta.
What to do with this
- If you study competitors' ads: set the bar per network. On Meta, anything past 60 days has survived a lot of budget reviews. On Google, compare offers, not age. Never compare a Meta ad's age with a Google ad's.
- If you run ads for a local business: on Google, lead with the offer that removes the biggest objection in your niche. On Meta, plan a new price creative every month, and run a before/after or proof ad next to it from week one.
- If you sell ads to local businesses: open with the prospect's own market. "Your 9 competitors run 110 ads, and here are the 3 offers they won't stop paying for" beats a case study.
- To see the angles and live ads for any niche and city, use the free ad examples or the free competitor ad report.
Method and limits
- Ads: every ad still running from local businesses in plumbing, HVAC, roofing, electrical, landscaping, pest control, dental, chiropractic, med spa and law firm searches across 20 US metros, collected from Google's and Meta's public ad libraries.
- "Days running" is the time from when an ad was first seen to the collection date, for ads still live. It's age so far, not total lifespan, and ads that already stopped aren't included.
- Variants of one ad (the same creative with small changes) are grouped and counted once.
- Run lengths were pulled on October 9, 2026. The angle counts come from a separate pull the same week, so the business counts differ slightly between tables.
- Angles are ProvenHits' labels for the main appeal of each ad.
- A long-running ad is likely profitable, but this is a snapshot of what's live, not proof of results.
- We publish aggregates only and don't name or single out any business.