How-to · Updated October 12, 2026
Set up Google Ads for phone calls now that call ads are ending
Updated October 12, 2026
30 minutes, then one to two weeks to judge
Google's schedule removed the option to create call ads (also called call-only ads) in February 2026, and existing ones stop showing in February 2027. Use responsive search ads with a call asset. The ad can show a call button only when the campaign bids toward a call conversion with Smart Bidding, such as Target CPA or Maximize conversions.
Before you start
- Standard or Admin access to the Google Ads account. Read-only access cannot edit campaigns.
- Call reporting on, or ready to turn on, under Account settings in the Admin menu. Google's call conversion setup requires call reporting, which runs on Google forwarding numbers.
- The number callers should reach, in your website's source code (Google checks it in E.164 format, such as +12345678900), or your domain verified through Google Search Console. Without one, the asset can be disapproved as Unverified Phone Number.
Find the call ads that will stop
Google states two dates: from February 2026 no new call ads can be created, and from February 2027 existing call ads stop receiving impressions. Google recommends moving to call assets now.
- Open Ads in the Campaigns menu and find every call ad that is still enabled.
- For each one, write down the phone number, the campaign and ad group it is in, and the campaign's ad schedule.
- Check that each of those ad groups also has an enabled responsive search ad. An ad group whose only ads are call ads has nothing to show once they stop.
Put the number on a call asset
Google's transition steps start in the account: add the business name a call ad carried, then put each number callers should reach on a call asset.
- Add your business name in account or campaign settings, the first of Google's transition steps.
- Go to Assets in the Campaigns menu, select the plus icon and choose Call.
- Choose the Campaign level for the campaign that should drive calls. Google uses the most specific call asset, so one on an ad group replaces this one there.
- Select Create new and enter the number, or Use existing if the number is already an asset.
- If call reporting is not on yet, turn it on when offered, and choose to count calls as conversions. Google creates a call conversion action called Calls from ads (shown as Call from ads on some Google pages) for this.
- Under Advanced options, schedule the asset for the days and hours someone answers. Then click Save.
Make the campaign bid on calls
Google says a call asset can show as a button, much like a call ad, when the campaign uses responsive search ads, has a call asset eligible to serve, optimizes bids toward a call conversion and uses Smart Bidding such as Target CPA or Maximize conversions. Change any one of these and the button format can stop.
- Open Campaigns in the Campaigns menu, select the Settings tab, then the campaign, and expand Conversion goals.
- Make sure the goal that holds Calls from ads is one the campaign uses, and hover over it to see whether the action is Primary. In a standard goal Google needs both: a Primary action in a goal the campaign does not use steers nothing.
- If it is Secondary, go to Goals > Conversions > Summary, open the action (by default in the Phone call lead goal), select Edit settings, set Action optimization to Primary and Save.
- Use a Smart Bidding strategy such as Maximize conversions or Target CPA. If the campaign also bids on other goals, Google's call asset checklist recommends Maximize conversion value, with the call action's value set to what a good call is worth. A campaign that bids only on form fills, or on clicks, does not meet the conditions for the button format.
- Leave the call ads running until the new setup is approved and shows phone impressions, then pause them. Google's transition steps also remove the old call ad only after the new ad is approved and performing.
Google says bid adjustments for interactions make call assets show more often, but also that manual bid adjustments on a Smart Bidding strategy are not supported. With the bidding above, the conversion goal does that work, not an adjustment.
Check it worked
After a week, open Campaigns, click the Columns icon, choose Call details, and add Phone Impr. and Phone calls. Rising phone impressions show the call asset is serving. These columns count only ads shown with a Google forwarding number, so they stay at zero when call reporting is off.
Then click Segment, and under Conversions choose Conversion action. Calls from ads should be counting in the Conversions column. Google says Smart Bidding takes 7 to 14 days to learn, and changes to goals or targets restart it, so judge the campaign after two weeks.
Can a responsive search ad be calls only, with no website visits?
No. Google says people can tap the call button or click through to the website from an ad with a call asset. The button format is the closest replacement for a call ad, and it still links to the site, so the landing page needs the same number and a clear way to call.
Should the call campaign have its own conversion goals?
Google recommends account-default goals for most campaigns, and says a campaign set to its own goals benefits less from what other campaigns learn. For a campaign whose aim is only phone call leads, Google's call asset checklist says the opposite: remove all other goals from that campaign's settings. Choose that when calls are the only result the campaign should bring, and accept the smaller share of cross-campaign learning.
A call tracking number instead of Google's forwarding number
Google says turning call reporting off shows your own number on the ad but stops Google Ads tracking those calls, and that with call reporting off, call conversions are classified from ad interaction data instead. Google's page does not say whether that, or calls a tracker imports into Google Ads, meets the button format's condition of bidding toward a call conversion, so do not count on the button format with call reporting off.