Google to Launch Automated Call Extensions on Mobile Ads in February

As of 6th February 2017, call extensions will be automatically generated and included in AdWords mobile ads if there is a prominent phone number featured on the landing page of the website.

The phone number will be automatically pulled from the landing pages and added as call extensions to advertisers’ mobile ads.

In an email notifying advertisers of this change, Google emphasised that 19% more calls to businesses are predicted to occur from mobile search engines than from mobile landing pages alone.

However, there are cases in which advertisers may not wish to have call extensions included in their ads. Some businesses may not want to pay for clicks to call them from search engines, or others would rather encourage leads from other methods than phone leads.

If you don’t want automated call extensions on your mobile ads, you can follow these steps:

1. In the Ad extensions tab, select “View: Automated extensions report”
2. Scroll down to “Automated extension options (advanced)” and click “Edit”
3. Uncheck the option for “Automatic call extensions” under “Do not use specific automated extensions in this account”.

Note, if this option is checked after 6th February, you may be required to remove any automatically generated call extensions in the Call extensions section.

If you’re happy to go ahead with automated call extensions in your ads, then nothing is required of you. Simply wait for the change to take effect next month. If you already have call extensions set up, then your ads will not be affected by the change.