Increased use of Phone Numbers in Adsense Ads

[DXL]

Lately I've seen an increase in the number of ads with the advertiser's phone number in the description. I've read arguments from people who say that site visitors will still click because its easier to visit the site than pick up the phone, but I don't agree with that (especially if its a local number for a very specialized product or service).

I block these ads, but I've been having to add more to my filter more so than usual lately. Don't these advertisers realize that this is probably going to catch up with them sooner or later, and lose some bread and butter sites that were bringing in clicks at one point? What good is a phone number if your ads are stuck on a bunch of MFAs.

[mojomike]

over time the MFA sites will vanish, the Arb will get to thin, but in reference to this conversation, for the advertisers it's a win.

you should block them for now, but every few weeks let them back in, this way you can test to see if you have a click reduction.

mojo