Ad Extensions Fundamentals
Ad extensions make text advertisements more prominent by displaying additional information beyond the standard headline and description. They can show sitelinks, addresses, phone numbers, and other details that help your campaigns stand out from competitors.
Among these extensions, call extensions are particularly valuable for businesses that rely on phone inquiries and want to measure their advertising effectiveness beyond clicks.
What Are Forwarding Numbers?
A forwarding number is a Google-generated phone number that is displayed in your ads instead of your actual business number. Despite showing a different number, calls still reach your business as normal.
The real benefit is measurement. This system enables advertisers to track phone calls as conversions and access detailed analytics including:
- Call duration to gauge the quality of leads
- Call timing to understand when prospects are most active
- Caller location to identify geographic demand patterns
- Call volume across different campaigns and ad groups
This data provides visibility into a conversion channel that would otherwise be difficult to measure.
Automatic Activation
In March 2016, Google automatically enabled forwarding numbers for many AdWords accounts. This surprised some advertisers when new call-tracking columns suddenly appeared in their campaign dashboards without any action on their part.
If you noticed unexpected changes in your call reporting around that time, the automatic activation of forwarding numbers was likely the cause.
Limitations to Be Aware Of
One notable drawback is that forwarding numbers can change over time. If a potential customer writes down the number from your advertisement to call later, that number may no longer route to your business by the time they dial it.
This is an inherent limitation of the system and something to consider if your advertising strategy relies on customers saving numbers for future contact.
Finding Your Forwarding Number
To identify which forwarding number Google has assigned to your campaigns, you can search for your target keywords and view your ad as it appears to users. Alternatively, use Google's ad preview and diagnosis tool, which allows you to see your ads without generating impressions or skewing your performance data.
Avoid clicking on your own ads in live search results, as this incurs costs and distorts your analytics.