"Call Now" 800#s in Adsense ad text and also embedded in ad URLs

So clever? So desperate for cheap (no pay) traffic? Time for policy change?

[Webwork]

Why allow the practcie when it's patently clear that the reason for making the message the # is to "get the call, not the click"?

I'm no expert so I have to ask: Are advertisers allowed to post their 800#s in their ads on Google's SERPs pages? Are they allowed to append their phone #s in the listed URLs?

Clever advertiser?

Desperately seeking free traffic . . advertiser?

Block 'em or leave 'em alone?

[Leosghost]

CPM

[netmeg]

Are advertisers allowed to post their 800#s in their ads on Google's SERPs pages?

Sure.

I've tried it, as an advertiser, didn't seem to make a difference in the number of clicks.

Remember, the advertisers are driving the boat, not the publishers. Best you can hope for is to block them if you don't like them.

[martinibuster]

We've had this discussion before and here are a few opinions and conclusions:


eWhisper had this to say [webmasterworld.com]:

One of the main reasons to use a phone number in an ad is if you own 1-800-KeyWord.
The purpose of this isn't necessarily to get people to call you from the ad, it's part branding, and often leads to a higher CTR as many consider someone who owns that type of number to be an 'authority'in an area.

DamonHD said this [webmasterworld.com]:

If all users *did* (call) rather than (click) then the ad's CTR would be so low that the ad would rapidly disappear and the publisher would not be hurt... If the ad got no click-through then Google would automatically stop showing it.

So, if it continues to show, it must be paying publishers comparably to other ads, regardless of how many people call the number.

[tim222]

A previous employer tried this specifically to try to get free leads. His logic was that end users will want to go straight to the source and bypass the website. He bid around $5 per click in order to place the ads at the top. The result was predictable... he went through a few thousand dollars in less than a week, and did not receive even 10 phone calls.

So my guess is that the ads with phone numbers are "good" ones, from a publishers point of view. Like my previous employer's ad, they probably pay well.

People who try this tactic are ignoring the nature of the internet. When I search for information on the internet, I want to read about it on a website before I pick up the phone.

[tim222]

I received an email today from AdWords saying that if you have a telephone number in an ad, then AdWords will automatically add a "call" link to it. However the email seemed to indicate that the advertiser will only be charged if a mobile user clicks the phone number and a call is initiated.

From experience with the "tel:" attribute in a hyperlink, a telephone number link is only active in a mobile browser. The same page in a web browser just shows the number, without a link.

So I'm not sure that the change in AdWords will have any impact on the issue raised in this thread. But it could be an indicator of more changes down the road. Also, it shows that Google is aware of phone numbers in ads.