Phone numbers on Ads

800 numbers on travel ads

[ap_Rhys]

Never seen this before.

I just checked one of my travel pages and found two of the (highly-targeted) Adsense ads showing 800 phone numbers in first line of text. Strong implied message of 'don't bother clicking when you can get the info with a free phone call'.

Took a look at the FAQ and editorial guidelines on ADWORDS and couldn't find anything that says it is not allowed.

Anybody know different?

[Jenstar]

I can't see this being permitted by AdWords, because they would lose their cut of the clicks by people who would phone instead. But because ads are not subject to editorial review prior to publishing, it might have slipped through.

Hopefully one of the AdWords people here can clear this up, or you might repost this on the AdWords board for their input.

[brotherhood of LAN]

Yes I've also seen phone numbers, it made me think of the running thread about incentives to make people click, and this is almost the opposite.

Interesting one. Maybe one for Adsenseguy? ^{or Shak if he is around?} ;)

[europeforvisitors]

If I were you, I'd block those advertisers' domains in my AdSense "Advanced Options." Any advertiser who pulls a stunt like that will probably do so again.

[ap_Rhys]

I have.

But what about other countries? Can't see them.

[JayC]

We have 800 numbers displayed in some clients' ads. Tracking actually doesn't show any significant difference in the clickthru rate whether the number is there or not... we use it generally in areas where a lot of competitors don't make a phone number available at all to make that difference a selling point, but it seems that people will still click on the ad before calling.

But maybe if the ad read something like "Don't click! Call 800-555-5555" the result would be different. Haven't tried that yet. :)

Of course since CTR is important in ranking AdWords ads an advertiser really can't get away with simply displaying ads and trying not to have people click on them. Maybe that's why AdWords doesn't seem to care (we've never had an ad suspended because of it) and why it's not causing a problem.

[valortrade]

I do not worry too much. This should NOT have dramatic impact on CTR because if I were the visitor and had interest in something, I would definitely try to visit the site first before I pick up phone to make the call.

[bether2]

I also saw an 800 number on an AdSense ad. But I came to the same conclusion that valortrade did. I think most people would click on the link to see the site before picking up the phone.

Beth

[Shak]

fire off as many emails to Adsense support letting them know off your feeling towards this.

as its a new program, there will be teething problems, but by making them aware of the problem will hopefully result in a quicker solution.

AdsenseGuy? why not AdsenseGirl, eh?

Shak

[vibgyor79]

I really don't this is a major issue. Surfers' natural instinct/psyche would be to click on the ad - not pick up the phone.
Most surfers, if not all, would be interested in finding out more information about the offering before picking up the phone.

Hence, Google wouldn't be bothered either. If surfers don't click on the ad because of 1-800 number, the same would happen to search ads too (and not just content ads). And its well known as to what happens when your search ads keeps collecting impressions without any clicks...

[WebWalla]

I think JayC has hit the nail on head ... I'm not an advertiser myself but my understanding is that if an ad goes below a certain CTR threshold, it will be withdrawn or at least the company will get a penalty. So it's not in their interest to stop people clicking entirely.

[TravelSite]

Managed to get away with doing this once for a good while (not on adwords) - great fun :)

I think that doing it may actually increase the number of clicks - having a number there makes you stand out (if other ads don't have it) and shows the user that you're actually a real company (that can be contacted if things go wrong). Hence I agree with all of vibgyor79 points.

[Ally_Cat]

We've run our telephone number in some of our AdWords before, and it *increased* our click-through rate. I think a lot of consumers are increasingly nervous about making a purchase and then finding out they can't contact the company when something goes wrong, and having the phone number up front breeds a higher sense of trust. I highly doubt anyone actually called the number without even clicking through to our site - I certainly wouldn't.