How-to · Updated October 11, 2026
Set how long a call must last to count as a conversion
Updated October 11, 2026
30 minutes
Set the minimum call length as a low bar that drops hang-ups and misdials, a little under the shortest real lead in your call log, then judge lead quality by what was said. Length alone fails both ways: a long wrong number passes and a short real lead fails. Raising the bar trades one error for the other.
Before you start
- Admin access to Google Ads, and to your call tracking account if one sends calls to Google Ads.
- A few weeks of calls with their durations, and a note of which ones were real leads, from the call details report or your call tracker's log.
Find out what decides a call counts
Before changing a number, check whether call length is what decides at all.
- In Google Ads, go to Summary within the Goals menu and list every action that counts calls and is Primary. Google adds a Calls from ads action to the Conversions column once call reporting is on.
- Check call recording: go to Account settings within the Admin menu and open Call ads. For calls from ads, with Call recording on, Google says its AI judges each recorded call and only qualified calls count. Length then decides only for calls that cannot be recorded. In the rare event a Google forwarding number is not available, Google classifies the call from ad interaction data.
- Call recording currently works only when both phone numbers are in the United States or Canada. Google turns it on by default unless you turned it off before or the business was identified as healthcare or financial services.
- If a call tracker imports calls into Google Ads, those calls count when the tracker's own rule sends them, so set the bar in the tracker for that action. Google's minimum applies only to Google's own call actions.
Set a low bar from your own calls
The right minimum comes from the shortest real lead in your own calls, not from a default.
- Open the call details report: click the Campaigns icon, open Insights and reports, click Report editor, then under Ads and assets click Call details. Read the Duration of calls you know were real leads.
- Pick a minimum a little under the shortest of those. A bar above it throws real leads away; a bar far below it counts hang-ups and misdials.
- To change it on Google's call action, go to Summary within Goals, open the Phone call leads drop-down and find AI-qualified call leads. Select Edit, open Lead qualification, enter the minimum in seconds and select Done.
- Leave the bar low even if wrong numbers still get through. A wrong number can run longer than a real booking call, so a higher bar loses short real leads and still counts the long wrong numbers.
Qualify calls by what was said
Content separates a lead from a long wrong number in a way length cannot.
- In Google Ads, keep call recording on where you can, so AI-qualified call leads judge each call. Google says this filters out robocalls, spam calls and misdials that met the duration threshold.
- In CallTrackingMetrics, build duration rules on Talk Time, not Call Length. CallTrackingMetrics says Call Length counts all ring time and hold time, so a call that rang a long time can pass with little said.
- Add a content check before a call is sent to Google Ads: Keyword Spotting on plans that include it (it needs transcriptions on), or the AskAI: Qualified Lead preset, which writes its verdict to a field that the Google Ads trigger can then check (it needs setting up, and adds usage-based charges).
- Have those rules tag calls rather than exclude them. CallTrackingMetrics says Exclude Call excludes the call from your call log.
Check it worked
A week after the change, put the call details report beside the Conversions column for the same days. If call recording is off, or for calls that could not be recorded, calls under the minimum should show without a conversion, and the real leads you know about should all be counted. With recording on, Google's AI decides each recorded call, so compare against its classification in the call details report instead.
Compare whole weeks, and leave out the most recent day or two, which may still be filling in. If wrong numbers still count, the fix is the content check in the last part, not a higher minimum.
The other call actions
Calls to a Google forwarding number shown on your website also count by a minimum length you set on that action. Clicks on a phone number on your mobile site count taps, not calls, and clicks on call assets without a forwarding number are counted from Google's estimate that a meaningful call happened. Neither has a length to set.
Counting only calls that became jobs
Google's import option lets you count only calls that included a sale, with the sale's value. It needs the calls tracked in another system, such as a CRM or call tracker, and tells you which ads drive the calls that became sales, which a length rule cannot.