Google Business Profile wasting my time on plumbing leads

Been grinding away at updating my Google Business Profile for the last six months, thinking it'd bring in steady residential repipes and water heater swaps here in the Houston suburbs. Instead, I'm drowning in sketchy calls from folks wanting free advice on their clogged drains or DIY PEX fixes, and the legit leads barely cover the ad spend. Out here the competition is fierce with all the big outfits using Angi and Thumbtack to snag the good jobs. I've sunk hours optimizing photos of my Ridgid SeeSnake runs and service van, but it's like shouting into the void. NGL, ready to ditch it and go back to yard signs and word-of-mouth from my commercial accounts. Anyone else seeing this crap with Google?

man i feel you, same BS on my end with those fake leads eating up the day. quit wasting time on it last year and focused on referrals instead, doubled my installs.

Try targeting specific keywords like 'emergency drain cleaning Houston' to filter out the cheapos.

Google's a scam for us small guys, they prioritize the chains. fuck em.

Ditched Google for Nextdoor postings on my last few jobs, actually landed a $2k slab leak repair from it. Worth a shot if you're local-focused.