Call Ads

Call ads, also called call-only ads, were a Search ad format built for one result: a phone call. The ad carries a business name, a phone number, up to two headlines, and two description lines, plus an optional final URL. When someone taps the call button, the phone dialer opens with your number or a Google forwarding number, and they tap again to place the call. Because of that, the ads can appear only on devices that can make phone calls. The format is being retired, so this page describes it mainly so you can recognize it in old accounts and plan the move to its replacement. Searchers see the number or button, then the phone does the rest, which is why the format suited urgent, local services.

The retirement is dated. Google says that in February 2026 all options to create new call ads were removed, and that in February 2027 existing call ads stop receiving impressions. Since today is November 2026, you cannot build a new one, but any you already have are still serving until that final date. Google's recommended replacement is a responsive search ad with call assets attached. In that setup the headlines and descriptions do the selling, and a call button sits underneath, so people can call or click through to a site from the same ad. That gives you a fixed runway: new creation is already closed, so the only decisions left are when to migrate and how to measure the swap.

The new setup changes how you set up the surrounding pieces. Instead of one format that only produces calls, you get a normal responsive search ad plus a call asset that you can schedule for business hours, and call reporting can count calls as conversions. Google's migration guidance is to add your business name to the account or campaign settings, add each phone number as a call asset, and remove the old call ad after the new or edited responsive ad is approved and serving. A call-only ad could never offer a website visit as a second path, which the replacement does. Because the replacement sits inside a normal ad, it also inherits ad strength rules, pinning options, and any sitelinks, callouts, or image assets you have added.

The mistakes people made with call ads carry over to the replacement. Running calls without tracking means you cannot tell a 30-second wrong-number call from a booked job. Showing the ad outside staffed hours pays for calls that go to voicemail. Vague ad copy attracts tire-kickers who then phone to ask about price. And switching late is its own error: waiting until the February 2027 cutoff risks a gap in calls while the new ad goes through review and the system relearns which searches suit it. Check also that the number on the ad matches the one answered, since wrong numbers waste the few seconds a stressed caller gives you.

To act on this now, open your ad report and filter by ad type to find any call ads still running. For each one, create a responsive search ad in the same ad group, attach the phone number as a call asset with call reporting turned on, and set a schedule matching when someone answers. Let both run for a short overlap if results allow, compare calls per dollar, then remove the old ad. Do this well before February 2027 so you are not forced into it during your busy season. Keep a record of calls per week before and after the swap so the comparison is clean and you can show the result to a partner or client.