Google Ads call-only ads retired: the dates
Google Ads call-only ads are being retired. According to Google’s transition notice, all options to create new call ads were removed in February 2026, and existing call ads stop receiving impressions in February 2027. The replacement is a responsive search ad with a call asset. If your phone leads come from call-only ads, you have until February 2027 to move them, and Google recommends doing it now rather than waiting.
Last checked against Google’s documentation on 29 September 2026. Google gives a month for both dates, not a specific day. The change was announced in October 2025, with a matching Google Ads API notice for tools that create ads.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| February 2026 | New call-only ads can no longer be created |
| Until February 2027 | Existing call-only ads keep serving |
| February 2027 | Existing call-only ads stop receiving impressions |
Why you can’t create call-only ads
If the call ad option is missing when you create an ad, nothing is wrong with your account. Google removed it. The call ads help page now points to the same dates and says to add your phone numbers to responsive search ads as call assets. The format is deprecated for everyone, so there is no setting, account type, or support request that brings it back.
Your existing call-only ads still serve until February 2027. Don’t read that as time to wait: a replacement ad needs approval and some weeks of data before you can judge it, and you want that period to overlap with the old ad still running.
What changes when calls come from call assets
A call-only ad was built for phones: tapping it opened the dialer with your number. A responsive search ad with a call asset behaves differently, and planning around those differences is most of the migration:
- The ad also links to your website. The headline sends people to your final URL. Some people who used to call will now visit the site instead, so the landing page and its contact form start to matter.
- The number is not guaranteed to show. Google says call assets won’t appear with every impression; it picks assets based on expected performance.
- It works on desktop too. According to Google’s call assets page, mobile shows a clickable call button, and desktop shows a “Call us” button with the number and a QR code.
- Assets are shared. A call asset can sit at account, campaign, or ad group level. When there is more than one, the most specific level is used.
So judge the new setup on total phone and website leads from the ad group, not on calls alone.
Step 1: Track calls before you switch
If calls aren’t counted as conversions, you can’t tell whether the new ads work, and Smart Bidding can’t optimize for them. Set this up first:
- Turn on call reporting. In your account settings, open the Call reporting section and turn it on. Google then shows a Google forwarding number with your ads and records call duration, start time, and whether the call connected. Forwarding numbers exist only in some countries; check the list on the call reporting page.
- Create a conversion action for calls from ads. Google’s calls from ads guide gives the path as Goals > Summary > Create conversion action > Conversions from phone calls > Phone call lead. It needs call reporting on and a call or location asset with a verified number.
- Set a minimum call length. Only calls longer than this count as conversions. Pick a length that separates real enquiries from wrong numbers and hang-ups, based on your own call records.
- Decide how to count. For lead generation, counting one conversion per click is usually right, so repeat calls from the same person aren’t counted twice. See one vs every conversion counting.
- Check website calls separately. Calls from people who clicked through to your site and dialed from the page need a separate website call conversion, which uses a phone snippet on your site.
Step 2: Replace call-only ads with call assets
Google’s step-by-step transition guide has three stages. Do them one ad group at a time:
- Prepare the account. Add your business name in account or campaign settings. Add every phone number you use as a call asset: Campaigns > Assets, the plus button, then Call, and choose account, campaign, or ad group level.
- Check the number is allowed. Numbers must be verified; vanity, premium-rate, and fax numbers aren’t accepted. Use international format (for example +12345678900) to avoid disapproval.
- Create or edit a responsive search ad in each ad group that has a call-only ad, and attach the call asset through “More asset types”. Write headlines that say calling is the fastest way to reach you, if it is.
- Make sure the landing page works for callers. Put the phone number near the top of the page on mobile, and make it tappable.
- Wait for approval and results. Only once the new ad is approved and serving, remove the old call-only ad, as Google recommends. Running both for a while gives you a direct comparison.
Step 3: Show the number only when you can answer
A missed call costs the same as an answered one. Call assets can be scheduled: in the call asset’s advanced options, set the days and hours it can show. Match them to the hours someone actually picks up, not your opening hours on paper. Outside those hours, the ad still runs and sends people to your website.
If you used ad scheduling on the call-only campaign to control this, check it again. The campaign now also brings website visitors, so hours when nobody answers the phone may still be worth running.
Step 4: Measure before and after
Before removing any call-only ad, export the last 4 to 8 weeks for each ad group: cost, calls, call conversions, and cost per call conversion. Then compare the same length of time after the switch:
| Metric | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Call conversions | Fewer calls is expected; a collapse means the asset isn’t showing |
| Website conversions | Should rise as some callers use the form instead |
| Total leads | Calls plus forms, the number to judge the switch on |
| Cost per lead | Compare against the call-only baseline |
| Answered calls | Check against your own phone records, not just Google’s |
Give it at least 14 days, and longer for low-volume ad groups. If total leads fall and call conversions drop sharply, check that the call asset is approved, attached at the right level, and scheduled for the hours you expect.
Common mistakes
- Removing call-only ads before the replacement is approved, leaving the ad group with no ads.
- Switching without call conversions set up, so the before and after can’t be compared.
- Adding the call asset at the wrong level. An ad group asset overrides the campaign one, so an old number at ad group level can hide the new one.
- Judging on calls alone. The new ads also send website visitors; count their leads too.
- Leaving the number showing out of hours, which fills voicemail and wastes spend.
Boxoo’s tracking and measurement agent checks every day that your conversion actions are still recording, and files a case when phone or form conversions stop. The creative and landing pages agent can draft a new responsive search ad for an ad group and create it when you press Apply. Adding the call asset itself is a step you do in Google Ads, and Boxoo lists it as part of the case.
Run a free Google Ads audit to find the ad groups that still depend on call-only ads. For everything else changing this year, see the Google Ads updates 2026 changelog.
