Compare ROI by calculating your actual cost-per-booked-job and customer lifetime value from each channel, not just cost-per-lead. Google Ads typically delivers exclusive leads at $150-300 per booked job with 35-45% close rates, while Angi and HomeAdvisor charge $30-80 per lead but sell the same lead to 3-5 competitors, resulting in effective cost-per-booked-job of $200-400 and close rates of 15-25%. The key is tracking complete funnel economics including lead cost, close rate, average job value, and repeat customer potential.
Understanding the Fundamental Difference
Lead marketplace services (Angi, HomeAdvisor, Thumbtack) operate as middlemen that sell customer contact information to multiple service providers simultaneously. When a homeowner requests quotes for water heater replacement, these platforms typically send the lead to 3-5 plumbing companies, creating immediate price competition. You’re paying $40-80 for the opportunity to compete, not for an exclusive customer relationship.
Google Ads generates direct customer acquisition where the consumer finds and chooses your company specifically based on your ad, website, and reputation. These leads are exclusive—you’re not competing against 4 other companies who received the same contact information. The customer has already selected you as their preferred provider before making contact.
This structural difference means cost-per-lead comparisons are misleading. A $50 Angi lead competing against 4 others doesn’t have the same value as a $150 Google Ads lead who chose your company specifically. You must compare cost-per-booked-job and customer quality to make meaningful ROI assessments.
How crftsmn helps: Our Google Search Advertising service helps you implement tracking systems that measure true cost-per-booked-job across all lead sources, providing apples-to-apples ROI comparison between Google Ads and lead marketplace services.
Calculating True Cost-Per-Booked-Job
The math reveals the real economics. Let’s compare identical monthly lead volumes:
Lead Marketplace (Angi/HomeAdvisor):
- Leads purchased: 100 leads at $50 each = $5,000
- Lead-to-job close rate: 20% (competing against 3-5 others)
- Jobs booked: 20 jobs
- Cost-per-booked-job: $250
- Average job value: $950 (heavy price shopping pressure)
- Revenue generated: $19,000
- Return on ad spend: 3.8:1
Google Ads:
- Monthly ad spend: $6,000
- Leads generated: 48 leads at $125 CPL
- Lead-to-job close rate: 40% (exclusive leads, no direct competition)
- Jobs booked: 19 jobs
- Cost-per-booked-job: $316
- Average job value: $1,350 (less price pressure, stronger positioning)
- Revenue generated: $25,650
- Return on ad spend: 4.3:1
At first glance, lead marketplaces appear more cost-effective ($250 vs. $316 per booked job). However, the Google Ads jobs average 42% higher value because customers aren’t simultaneously comparing quotes from 4 competitors. The revenue and ROAS tell the real story—Google Ads generates $6,650 more monthly revenue from similar job volume.
How crftsmn helps: We provide detailed tracking by source and average job value analysis, revealing which channels drive not just volume but profitable revenue that contributes meaningfully to business growth.
Lead Quality and Customer Intent Differences
Lead marketplace customers are explicitly comparison shopping. They submitted one form requesting multiple quotes, signaling clear intent to select based primarily on price. These leads typically:
- Ask for quotes from 3-5 companies before deciding
- Make decisions heavily weighted toward lowest price
- Show lower loyalty and higher churn for future services
- Result in thinner margins as you compete on price to win the work
Industry data shows HomeAdvisor and Angi leads have average close rates of 15-25% for plumbing services. The customers who do convert tend to be price-sensitive and less likely to become repeat customers—they’ll use the same lead services for future needs rather than calling you directly.
Google Ads customers chose your company specifically. They searched for a plumber, reviewed multiple search results, clicked your ad, visited your website, and then decided to contact you. This journey demonstrates:
- Higher commitment and qualification before making contact
- Decision factors beyond just price (reviews, website quality, location, specialization)
- Greater likelihood of becoming repeat customers (they know how to find you)
- Better margins because you’re not one of five identical quotes
Well-managed Google Ads campaigns for plumbing companies achieve 35-45% close rates for emergency services and 30-40% for installations—significantly higher than lead marketplace services because customers have already pre-qualified your company as their preferred choice.
How crftsmn helps: Our Google Search Advertising service optimizes campaigns to attract high-intent customers actively searching for your services, not just anyone requesting generic quotes, improving both close rates and average job profitability.
Control and Scalability Comparison
Lead marketplaces offer limited control:
- You can’t select which specific leads you receive (emergency vs. installation vs. maintenance)
- You can’t control lead volume predictably—it fluctuates based on marketplace traffic
- You can’t adjust targeting by geography, time, or customer characteristics
- You can’t test different approaches—you simply receive whatever leads the platform generates
- You can’t pause and resume instantly—most services require monthly commitments
If marketplace lead quality declines or costs increase, your only option is reducing or stopping entirely. There’s no ability to optimize, refine targeting, or systematically improve performance. You’re entirely dependent on the platform’s algorithms and customer acquisition efforts.
Google Ads provides extensive control:
- Choose which services to advertise and allocate budget accordingly
- Scale spending up or down daily based on performance and capacity
- Target specific geographic areas, times, and audience characteristics
- Test different ad copy, landing pages, and bidding strategies
- Pause campaigns instantly during capacity constraints
- Continuously optimize based on what’s working
This control means Google Ads performance improves over time through optimization, while lead marketplace performance tends to deteriorate as more competitors join the platforms and lead costs increase. Google Ads is a systematic customer acquisition channel you can refine and scale; lead marketplaces are a commodity you can only buy or not buy.
How crftsmn helps: Our Google Search Advertising service leverages Google Ads’ flexibility and control to continuously optimize performance based on your business goals, capacity, and profitability targets—optimization opportunities that simply don’t exist with lead marketplace services.
Customer Lifetime Value Considerations
Lead marketplace customers have lower lifetime value because their relationship is with the platform, not your company. When they need a plumber next time, they return to Angi or HomeAdvisor rather than calling you directly. Industry research shows:
- Only 30-40% of marketplace customers become direct repeat customers
- Average customer lifetime value: $1,200-2,000 over 3-5 years
- You’re essentially re-acquiring the same customer repeatedly through the platform
- The platform captures the relationship and ongoing revenue
Google Ads customers have higher lifetime value because they found you directly and know how to reach you for future needs. Performance data shows:
- 60-75% of Google Ads customers become repeat customers for future needs
- Average customer lifetime value: $3,000-5,500 over 5-7 years
- After the initial acquisition, repeat business comes without additional advertising costs
- You own the customer relationship and associated lifetime value
This LTV difference dramatically changes ROI calculations. A $250 marketplace customer with $1,500 LTV means you’re paying 17% of lifetime value for acquisition. A $300 Google Ads customer with $4,000 LTV means you’re paying 7.5% of lifetime value—more than twice as efficient when measured over the complete customer relationship.
Factor LTV into your channel comparison by tracking repeat service rates by original acquisition source. If you discover Google Ads customers call you back 2-3 times over five years while marketplace customers rarely return, the initial acquisition cost difference becomes largely irrelevant.
How crftsmn helps: We help implement tracking that connects initial acquisition source to lifetime customer behavior, demonstrating the complete long-term value of Google Search Advertising customer relationships versus short-term transaction-focused marketplace leads.
When Lead Marketplaces Make Sense
Despite these limitations, lead services have valid use cases:
New businesses building initial customer base: When you lack brand recognition and your Google Ads campaigns haven’t optimized yet, lead marketplaces provide immediate lead flow at known costs while you build momentum through direct marketing channels.
Filling schedule gaps during slow periods: If your capacity is underutilized during certain seasons or days, accepting marketplace leads can generate revenue from otherwise empty time slots, even at lower margins than your primary lead sources.
Testing new service categories: Before investing in Google Ads campaigns for a new service offering, buying a small volume of marketplace leads can validate demand and help establish pricing and sales processes.
Geographic market entry: When expanding to a new service area where you lack brand recognition, marketplace leads can provide initial jobs to build local reviews and reputation while organic and paid search gain traction.
The key is treating lead marketplaces as a supplement, not a primary growth strategy. Use them tactically while building sustainable owned channels like Google Ads that you can optimize and scale with better unit economics.
How crftsmn helps: We develop multi-channel strategies that position Google Search Advertising as your primary scalable customer acquisition engine while advising on appropriate use of lead marketplaces to supplement during specific business situations.
Optimizing Your Channel Mix
Most successful plumbing companies use both channels strategically:
Typical optimal allocation:
- 60-70% of marketing budget to Google Ads (Search + LSA)
- 15-25% to SEO and organic channel development
- 10-20% to lead marketplaces during capacity gaps
- 5-10% to traditional marketing (direct mail, vehicle wraps)
This mix provides the predictability and scalability of owned channels while opportunistically using marketplaces when economics make sense. Track ROI rigorously by channel and shift allocation quarterly based on what’s actually driving profitable growth.
Monthly calculation example:
- Google Ads: $8,000 spend, 27 booked jobs, $38,000 revenue = 4.75:1 ROAS
- Lead marketplaces: $3,000 spend, 15 booked jobs, $13,500 revenue = 4.5:1 ROAS
- Next month allocation: Increase Google Ads to $9,000, reduce marketplaces to $2,000 based on comparative performance
How crftsmn helps: Our Google Search Advertising service includes strategic consultation on optimal channel mix based on your market, capacity, and growth goals, helping you maximize total marketing ROI across all customer acquisition channels.
Conclusion & Next Steps
When comparing Google Search Ads to Angi and HomeAdvisor, evaluate cost-per-booked-job (not just cost-per-lead), average job value, customer lifetime value, and strategic control. Google Ads typically delivers superior long-term ROI through higher close rates, better customer quality, stronger lifetime value, and optimization capability. Most plumbing companies achieve best results using Google Ads as their primary growth engine while supplementing with lead marketplaces during capacity gaps. Schedule a consultation with crftsmn to analyze your current channel performance and develop an optimized customer acquisition strategy centered on Google Search Advertising.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I completely replace lead marketplace services with Google Ads?
A: Yes, most plumbing companies generating $2M+ in revenue can build sufficient Google Ads volume to eliminate dependency on lead marketplaces entirely. However, the transition takes 4-6 months as campaigns optimize and scale. Many companies maintain small marketplace spend ($1,000-2,000/month) as a backup lead source during Google Ads maintenance or budget adjustments.
Q: What if my Google Ads cost-per-lead is higher than my marketplace cost-per-lead?
A: This is common and expected—remember that lead marketplace leads are shared with competitors while Google Ads leads are exclusive. Focus on cost-per-booked-job and customer lifetime value, not cost-per-lead. A $150 Google Ads lead closing at 40% produces better economics than a $50 marketplace lead closing at 18%, despite the 3x higher CPL.
Q: Do lead marketplaces work better for certain plumbing services?
A: Emergency services and small repairs (under $500) often perform better on lead marketplaces because customers prioritize speed over vetting, making them more willing to call whoever responds first. High-value installations ($3,000+) perform significantly better through Google Ads because customers do more research and care about reputation and quality, not just lowest price. Adjust your channel strategy by service type.
Q: How long until Google Ads outperforms lead marketplaces?
A: Most plumbing companies see better Google Ads performance by month 4-6 as campaigns optimize beyond initial learning phase. In months 1-3, lead marketplaces may deliver better immediate results while Google Ads builds momentum. By month 6-9, well-managed Google Ads campaigns typically deliver 20-40% better ROI than lead marketplaces when measuring complete customer lifetime value.
Q: Should I negotiate better rates with lead marketplace services?
A: If you’ve used a platform consistently with high close rates and positive reviews, you can sometimes negotiate 10-20% discounts. However, even with discounts, the fundamental challenge remains—shared leads with heavy price competition. Better ROI improvement comes from optimizing your Google Search Advertising campaigns with crftsmn rather than seeking marginal cost reductions from marketplace services.