Creative Formats & Assets

Call Assets vs Sitelink Assets: Phone Call or Web Page

In short: Both extend a search ad with an extra action beyond the headline click, but they send the searcher down completely different paths. A call asset lets someone dial your number directly, often skipping the website entirely. A sitelink asset always lands on a page, just a more specific one than the main ad. Call assets tie spend to whether someone actually answers the phone; sitelinks carry no such staffing dependency. Pick call assets when the phone closes the sale, pick sitelinks when the value is in self-serve pages.

By the AdFlint research team · Fact-checked against current Google and Meta platform behavior · Last reviewed July 2026

Call Assets

Adds a phone number or tap-to-call button to a search ad, letting a searcher dial you without loading a landing page.

Formerly call extensions, these can use a Google forwarding number so calls report as conversions once they pass a duration threshold, and they can be scheduled to appear only during business hours. They fit service businesses where the phone closes the sale. The mistake is leaving them running outside staffed hours, which spends budget on calls nobody answers and buries the conversion data under missed rings.

Full definition

Sitelink Assets

Extra clickable links shown beneath a search ad, each pointing to a different page and carrying its own short description text.

Formerly called sitelink extensions, these expand the ad's footprint and let one ad serve several intents at once, such as pricing, locations, or a specific product. Google decides how many to show and which ones, based on query and device, so add at least four to qualify for larger layouts. The common mistake is pointing every sitelink at the homepage, which wastes the space.

Full definition

Side by side.

The differences that actually change what happens in your account.

	Call Assets	Sitelink Assets
What happens on tap	Dials the phone directly on mobile, or displays the number on desktop.	Loads a separate landing page tied to that specific link.
Conversion signal	A Google forwarding number can log the call as a conversion once it clears a duration threshold.	Conversion comes from whatever tag fires on the destination page, same as a normal ad click.
Operational dependency	Only useful if someone is actually available to answer during serving hours.	None - the page is always available regardless of staffing.
Scheduling use	Commonly restricted to hours when the business is staffed to take calls.	Not tied to staffing; scheduling here is about campaign timing, not answer capacity.
Reporting you get	Call-specific metrics like duration and missed calls, separate from web conversion data.	Standard per-link click and conversion breakdown alongside the rest of the ad's metrics.
Best fit	Service businesses where a conversation closes the sale - trades, legal, healthcare.	Sites where self-serve research or browsing precedes any contact.
Failure mode when misconfigured	Runs outside staffed hours and pays for calls nobody answers.	Every link points at the homepage, adding no real incremental value.

What actually separates them.

A call asset click can skip the website entirely and dial the phone, while a sitelink click always ends on a page.

Call conversions are counted by the phone system once a call clears a duration threshold, while sitelink conversions come from a standard tag on the destination page.

Call assets carry a real operational cost when unstaffed - spend goes toward calls nobody answers - whereas sitelinks have no equivalent staffing risk.

A Google forwarding number on a call asset generates call-specific metrics like duration and missed calls that sitelinks never produce.

Sitelinks multiply the number of pages one ad can send traffic to, while call assets narrow the interaction down to a single phone conversation.

Which one should you use?

Use Call Assets when

The business closes sales over the phone rather than through a web form - trades, legal, medical, home services.
You have live staff able to answer during the hours the ad actually serves.
Queries are urgent or local enough that talking beats browsing, like an emergency repair.
You want call-specific conversion data kept separate from web conversion data.
Most traffic is mobile, where tap-to-call is lower friction than opening a page.

Use Sitelink Assets when

You have multiple product categories or service lines that each deserve a dedicated link.
Buyers typically research before they'll ever call, so pricing or comparison pages matter.
You want more ad real estate without adding a phone-based path.
Stable, specific landing pages already exist beyond the homepage.

Common questions.

Does tapping a call asset cost the same as a regular click?

Yes, tapping the phone number on a search ad's call asset is billed like any other click on the ad at the same rate, so it draws from the same budget as headline clicks.

Can I schedule call assets to only show during business hours?

Yes, call assets can be restricted to specific hours so the ad only offers the call option when someone is actually available to answer, which avoids paying for calls that go unanswered.

Why don't sitelinks show on every search?

Google decides which assets to display per impression based on predicted value and available space, so sitelinks may not appear on queries where it predicts they won't help - this is normal and not an error.

Can I run both call assets and sitelinks on the same ad?

Yes, both can be eligible simultaneously and Google chooses which combination to actually render for a given searcher and device.

Or stop choosing between them.

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