How to Track Phone Call Conversions on Google Ads in 2026

Google is shutting down an entire ad type. As of February 2026, advertisers can no longer create new call-only ads, and by February 2027, every existing call-only ad stops receiving impressions entirely. If your business relies on phone calls as its primary conversion — home services, legal, medical, real estate — this is a deadline you need to plan around now, not later.

The good news: call conversion tracking itself isn't going away. It's just moving into a different ad structure. Here's how to set it up correctly.

Why Call Ads Are Being Phased Out

Google is consolidating ad formats around responsive search ads (RSAs), which use machine learning to test combinations of headlines and descriptions against each search query. Rather than maintaining call-only ads as a separate, standalone format, Google is folding phone number functionality into RSAs as a call asset — an extension attached to a normal search ad rather than a distinct ad type.

• February 2026: the option to create new call-only ads is removed entirely
• February 2027: existing call-only ads stop showing, full stop

If you're still running call-only ads today, you have a runway, but not an unlimited one. Migrating to call assets on RSAs now avoids a scramble next year.

The Two Types of Call Conversions

Before setting anything up, it helps to understand that Google tracks phone call conversions two different ways:

• Calls from ads: the phone number is shown directly within the ad itself (or via a call asset), and Google counts a conversion when someone taps or dials that number
• Calls from a website: the number is displayed on your landing page after someone clicks through from an ad, and a call is counted when they call the number shown on the site

Both matter, and most businesses should track both — a searcher might call directly from the ad on mobile, or click through to your site first and call from there once they've seen more detail.

How Call Attribution Actually Works

Google doesn't just guess which calls came from ads. It uses dynamic number forwarding: a special tracking number is displayed to users who came from a Google Ads click, and when they call it, the call gets forwarded to your real business line. This lets Google tie that specific call back to the specific ad, keyword, and campaign that generated it.

From there, Google measures call duration, and counts the call as a conversion once it passes whatever minimum duration you've set — commonly somewhere between 30 and 90 seconds, filtering out accidental dials or immediate hang-ups.

There's also a third option for businesses with their own call tracking or CRM system already in place: calls via uploads, which lets you upload call data from your own system so it aligns with what your CRM considers a qualified call, rather than relying solely on Google's duration threshold.

Setting Up Call Conversion Tracking

• Step 1: Define your conversion action inside Google Ads — go to Tools and Settings, then Conversions, and create a new conversion action of type "Phone calls," choosing either calls from ads or calls from your website
• Step 2: Install the Google Tag via Google Tag Manager on your website if you're tracking calls from a website, so Google can display the dynamic forwarding number to ad traffic and detect calls placed through it
• Step 3: Test the setup using Tag Assistant before relying on the data, confirming the tag fires correctly and the forwarding number displays and swaps as expected for ad-driven visitors

Migrating From Call Ads to Call Assets

If you're currently running call-only ads, the migration path is straightforward:

• Add call assets to your existing responsive search ads, including your business phone number, rather than relying on a standalone call-only ad
• Set your call conversion action the same way you would for any other call tracking, so calls generated through the call asset get attributed correctly
• Don't wait until early 2027 — migrating now gives you a full data history on the new setup before the old call-only ads disappear completely, rather than a gap in reporting during the transition

Conclusion

If you're a small business or agency still running call-only ads, treat this as a this-quarter project, not a someday project: add call assets to your best-performing responsive search ads now, set a call duration threshold that matches what an actual qualified lead looks like for your business, and confirm tracking with Tag Assistant before you need the data for a budget decision.

Data according to Google Ads Help and Invoca.