Google has started emailing some Local Services Ads advertisers about new business verification, centered on a D-U-N-S number, for select verticals and certain users in the US. The nine-digit identifier, issued by Dun & Bradstreet, is free to request and slow to receive. That timing gap lands hardest on small local businesses, solo operators, and newly formed entities, the population Local Services Ads exists to serve.
The requirement itself is the news. An identity check meant to build trust also raises the barrier for the advertisers least equipped to clear it quickly.
The change surfaced when marketer Anthony Higman posted a screenshot on LinkedIn showing the notice inside Google’s Business Verification tab, Barry Schwartz reported for Search Engine Roundtable on Friday. The notice states: “We are updating our verification process. Moving forward, you will see new requirements listed in your Business Verification tab for any new CIDs. No action is required for CIDs that have already successfully completed their verification checks.” Customer ID accounts that already passed verification are exempt. The new standard applies going forward, to new CIDs only.
Google’s help documentation spells out the standard: “For select verticals and users in the US, Google verifies that businesses are registered according to relevant laws and regulations.” The verification runs against a business’s D-U-N-S number, obtained from Dun & Bradstreet. A D-U-N-S number is Dun & Bradstreet’s nine-digit identifier for a registered business. It is the kind of credential familiar to anyone who has filled out a government contracting or credit application. It is now becoming a requirement to run certain local ads. Google’s documentation adds that the number “ensures accurate and reliable business information, improving your chances of connecting with potential customers.”
Advertisers who cannot obtain a D-U-N-S number have an alternative: registration with a state’s Secretary of State office, an EIN from the IRS, or state Department of Revenue registration. That alternative softens the barrier, but it still asks a newly formed entity to produce paperwork it may not have filed yet.
Search Engine Roundtable’s reporting names no specific verticals beyond “select,” and Google has published no full list and no effective date. The scope and timing were not specified, so advertisers should treat the change as already live for new accounts rather than wait for an announced deadline.
Verification requirements have been spreading across Google’s advertising surfaces, from advertiser identity checks to Merchant Center registration reviews, and each one turns a marketing decision into a paperwork lead time. For an agency onboarding a local client, the practical move is to check now whether that client’s vertical is affected and start the D-U-N-S lookup or alternative-document process immediately. It cannot be completed on the day a Local Services Ads campaign is meant to launch.
Search Engine Roundtable, reported by Barry Schwartz on Friday, July 31, 2026.
