Rodney - 9:46 pm on May 23, 2006 (gmt 0)

Yes, I think the ads are still receiving clicks despite the phone number.

Thinking about it as a customer: I don't think I would call a phone number just from seeing a few words of text before it. However, it would help that particular ad to stand out from ads that didn't have numbers as possibly a company that is more reliable with phone support if necessary.

Thinking about it as a merchant: seems like just another tactic to get your ad to stand out. I really doubt you'll get lots of calls just from the phone number and 3-4 words.

Thinking about it as a publisher: it seems like it would show that there are quality (ie: non-MFA) advertisers showing on my site, and if the merchant is correct, and the it makes the ad stand out, then that means that ad would get more clicks, which menas more money for me, more leads for the advertiser, more relevant ads for my site visitors.

I don't use any click tracking software, so I couldn't guarantee that it gets clicked, but that's my non-scientific opinion :)