Google is ending Call-Only Ads in 2027: what does it mean for your business?
Google is ending Call-Only Ads in February 2027, the ads that let customers call you directly from the search results. Existing campaigns keep running until the deadline, but you can no longer create new ones. The replacement is a Responsive Search Ad with call assets, and switching now means you keep your phone leads.
Source: Google Ads Help, Action required: move from call-only ads to call assets. It states both dates: February 2026 for creating new Call-Only ads, February 2027 for impressions on existing ones. Checked on 24 August 2026. Last checked on 25 August 2026: the announcement is still there and neither date has shifted. If Google does move the date, this line will change with it.
The announcement many business owners missed
Google announced that Call-Only Ads, the ads that let visitors call you directly without visiting your website, are disappearing in two steps. Since February 2026, every option to create a new Call-Only ad has been removed, and from February 2027 existing Call-Only ads will stop getting impressions altogether. The announcement got little media attention, but the consequences are felt immediately by anyone who brings in phone leads through Google Ads. For painters, handyman businesses and gardeners, this hits the phone, the diary and the revenue.
Anyone who does nothing and only wakes up in January 2027 has a problem
Your ads then stop getting impressions altogether, and your phone leads dry up. The good news: Google is not scrapping the calling option entirely. The replacement is a responsive search ad with call assets, and you can already build that alongside your existing campaign today. That switch does take action, and it starts now.
Note: existing Call-Only campaigns keep running until February 2027, but creating new ones has not been possible since February 2026.
What exactly are Call-Only Ads?
Call-Only Ads are Google Ads that appear exclusively on mobile devices. If someone clicks the ad, they call you directly. No website in between, no form. This ad format was popular with trade businesses, for three reasons:
- Direct contact with no web page in between
- Perfect for emergencies such as leaking pipes, broken roofs and breakdowns
- Low friction and action-focused
A roofer in Leeds did not need a perfectly converting website, just to be reachable for callers
A plumber with leak customers wanted direct contact, not forms. That made Call-Only Ads ideal for services where being instantly reachable is everything.
Why Google is ending it
Google has been moving towards automation and AI-driven advertising for years. Performance Max, Responsive Search Ads (RSA) and Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) are examples of that: the AI automatically tests combinations and optimises itself. Call-Only Ads do not fit that model. They are manual and rigid, give AI systems little to learn from, only work on mobile and are not usable for prediction models.
Google does not put in writing why it is phasing out this format, so we are not putting a motive in Google's mouth
What is stated is the phase-out itself, with both dates attached. This fits a broader trend in which older, manual ad formats disappear; the same thing happened earlier with Expanded Text Ads. Google is tidying up in more places than one. Read, for example, how Google tackles back-button manipulation on small business websites and why it has been removing fake reviews since May 2026 NL.
What this means for you as a business owner
Do you work with a marketing agency? Check now whether your agency already has a plan. Not every agency is proactive; some wait until the problem presents itself. Do you manage your own campaigns? Open Google Ads, go to Campaigns and look for campaigns of the Call-Only type. Note down two things: how much budget sits in them and how many calls come in each month. Those numbers determine your urgency and your risk.
What you should definitely not do: wait for a warning
The deadline is February 2027, but migrating takes time and test periods. If you only start in December 2026, there is not enough room left to optimise. So start now. If you doubt whether you can do this yourself, let a paid search specialist guide the migration.
Tip: filter your campaign overview by the Call-Only type
That list is the only inventory that matters, and it takes a minute to make.
The replacement that works: RSA with call assets
Google's replacement combines Responsive Search Ads with a call asset. That sounds technical, but it comes down to this: you build a normal text ad for every device and add a call button that is visible on mobile. The result looks a lot like a Call-Only Ad. Mobile users see your ad, tap the phone number and call directly.
The difference is on desktop
There, the same ad shows a link to your website. So you reach more people with one campaign. What that switch delivers for you, you will only know once you have run the new ad alongside the old one for a while; we will not promise you a percentage for that. RSA with call assets is more flexible, though, and fits current search behaviour better: mobile users call, desktop users click through.
What you need:
- A good landing page for click-throughs
- A clear phone number
- Ad copy rewritten in RSA format
With an RSA you supply several headlines and descriptions, after which Google tests the best combinations
More work than a single fixed piece of copy, true, and it is exactly the format Google itself names as the replacement for the Call-Only ad.
What to do now, step by step
Step 1: map your situation
Open Google Ads, go to Campaigns and filter by campaign type. Work out how many Call-Only campaigns are running, what the annual budget is and how many calls come in each month.
Step 2: make a migration plan
Decide the replacement for every Call-Only campaign. Usually that is an RSA campaign on the same keywords, topped up with call assets. Make sure your phone number is set up as a sitelink and as a call asset. If you work with an agency, ask for a migration plan that is finished by the end of 2026 at the latest.
Step 3: test side by side
Run the new RSA campaigns alongside your existing Call-Only campaigns for a few weeks. Compare the number of calls, the cost per call and the quality of the conversations. Once the RSA shows comparable or better results, wind down the Call-Only campaigns.
Step 4: optimise and give it time
An RSA improves as more data comes in. Google tests your headlines and descriptions and learns which combinations work. Give new campaigns four to six weeks before you adjust them. The system works for you, but it needs good material to work with.
Tip: write at least ten headlines and four descriptions per RSA campaign. More variety means better testing. Use concrete search terms such as handyman, emergency, painter and quote. You can read more practical explanation about Google Ads and findability in our knowledge base.
Your old dashboard is about to start lying to you, and that can be fixed
With a Call-Only ad, clicks and calls were almost the same thing. There was only one exit, so whoever clicked, called. Because of that, you could look at the number of clicks and the cost per click in your overview and know enough. After the switch, that equivalence no longer holds. A click on a laptop is a page visit, a click on mobile can be a call or a visit. Your old comparison keeps producing numbers, they just mean something different from what you think.
That is the part of the migration that gets skipped most often, and it is exactly the part your bid and budget decisions rest on
So set up your conversion tracking properly before you switch the new campaign on, not after.
You need two things that stand apart from each other
The first is a conversion action for calls that come from the ad itself, so from the call button. The second is a conversion action for calls that start on your website, so when someone taps the number on your site. That second stream did not exist at all with a Call-Only ad and is exactly the stream that is now being added. If you only measure the first, the new setup looks worse than it is, and you will switch it off again for the wrong reason.
Two settings worth tracking down in your account
You can have a call only count as a conversion once it lasts longer than a duration you set yourself, so wrong numbers and three-second calls do not inflate your figures. And you can turn on call reporting, where Google uses a forwarding number so it can count calls. That second option is not available in every country, so check your own account to see whether it is there rather than assuming it.
Two more practical points
Put the same number in your ad as on your website, otherwise the two streams cannot be compared side by side afterwards. And keep tracking your own diary on top of that, because Google counts a call, not a job. How many of those calls turned into a booked job is the only number your bank account sees, and it does not appear on any advertising screen.
The landing page you now actually need
The appealing thing about the Call-Only ad was that your site did not matter. There was no destination, so a neglected website could not get in the way of your campaign. With a responsive search ad, that is over: the page you send people to is now part of your campaign. The experience on the landing page counts towards the quality assessment of your ad, and that assessment feeds through into what you pay per click and where you appear.
What belongs on a page like that is not a design question but a sequence
Your phone number at the top, and as a clickable link so a mobile visitor can call with it in one go instead of having to remember it and retype it. Below that, in plain language, what job you do and which places you cover, because the visitor who has just searched for an emergency wants to know first whether you are near them. After that, what happens once they call: when you answer, how quickly you can get there, whether you charge a call-out fee. And only at the bottom, the rest.
There is another reason that page matters now, and it has nothing to do with Google
Your visitor arrives on a phone, often outside, often in a hurry and sometimes with barely any signal. If your page loads slowly, they are gone before your number is even on screen, and that costs you exactly the lead you paid for. How to work out where that slowness sits is covered in the piece on Core Web Vitals per page.
If you have no website at all today, a single page is enough to start with
What we put on a page like that and why is covered on the page about building websites. A page that does these four things is worth more than ten pages that cover the topic exhaustively without a phone number appearing anywhere.
Settings that used to be right by default, and no longer are
A Call-Only ad had already made a number of choices for you. It only appeared on mobile, it had no destination, and most people only switched it on during the hours when someone answers the phone. Those choices do not automatically carry over to your new campaign, they simply stop being made for you.
Devices. Your ad now also runs on laptops and tablets. That is pure gain, because you were not there at all before. But it is not a given that those clicks deliver the same value. After a few weeks, look at what comes in per device, and only then adjust your bid adjustment per device. Turning desktop down in advance simply because you are not used to it is throwing away the gain before you have even measured it.
Ad scheduling.
This is the setting that most often moves across wrongly. With a Call-Only campaign, advertising outside office hours was pointless: there was no exit other than a phone nobody answers. Now there is another exit, because outside those hours someone can read your page and call tomorrow or leave an enquiry. So it pays to schedule your campaign more broadly than your call button. Call assets actually have their own schedule, separate from the campaign: you can make the button disappear during the hours you do not answer, while the ad itself simply keeps running.
Locations. Check whether you are targeting people physically present in your service area, or also people who merely show interest in it. That difference is big in an emergency trade, because someone moving to your town next month does not need a plumber right now.
Search terms. The most valuable thing in your old campaign is not the ad copy but the search terms report: the actual queries you were shown for, and the exclusions you have added to it over the years. Carry that list across to the new campaign one for one before you switch off the old one. You have paid for it for years, and it is gone the moment the campaign disappears. Anyone who skips this pays for the same lesson a second time.
Five ways to make this switch fail
One. Switching off the old campaign before the new one has enough data. That is the most expensive mistake of the five, because you can no longer create new Call-Only ads. So there is no way back: only switch off the old one once the new one has proven itself.
Two. Running both campaigns on the same keywords and thinking that gives you a fair comparison. As a rule, only one ad from the same advertiser takes part in the same auction, so the two campaigns do not run alongside each other but past each other. If you want a real comparison, split by something that gives no overlap, for example by location or by service, and not by the same keyword.
Three. Judging it after a week. A responsive search ad has to try out combinations first before there is anything to see, and in a trade with peaks, a week does not tell you much anyway. Give it the weeks stated in step 4 above.
Four. Skipping conversion tracking and still switching on an automated bid strategy. A bid strategy that steers on conversions needs conversions to steer on. Without that tracking, the system optimises for clicks, and clicks are precisely no longer the same thing as calls.
Five. Waiting for a warning in your account. The dates are in Google's announcement, and it had not shifted as of the check date above. Anyone who starts in January 2027 has no test period left, and then the choice comes down to a campaign you do not know or a phone that goes silent.
If you get stuck here because you are unsure whether you want to do this yourself, the page about outsourcing Google Ads covers what we then take on and what it costs.
Frequently asked questions about the end of Call-Only Ads
Can I keep using my Call-Only Ads until February 2027?
Existing campaigns keep running until the deadline, but creating new ones has not been possible since February 2026. From February 2027, existing Call-Only ads will stop getting impressions altogether. So start the switch now, so you have data well before the deadline and know what works.
What if I do not have a website?
Then you will need one. A responsive search ad requires a destination, and Google's transition article describes no route where you use your Business Profile as the destination. A simple landing page with your service, your service area and your phone number is enough to start with.
Will my current phone leads be affected?
Not if you migrate in time. If you move your Call-Only campaigns to RSA with call assets before February 2027, the calls keep coming in. If you do nothing, your ads disappear after the deadline and the stream of calls dries up.
Which campaigns should I move first?
Start with the campaigns that have the most budget and the most calls. That is where the biggest risk and the biggest gain sit. Campaigns with a small budget can wait, but make sure everything is moved over before the end of 2026 so there is enough time left to optimise.
Does the switch cost extra advertising budget?
Not directly. Your existing budget carries over to the new campaigns. It does take time and knowledge to set everything up properly, though. If you do it yourself, count on a few hours per campaign. If you outsource it, ask for a clear hourly rate and a concrete plan.
When you want to make the call before February
There is a hard date underneath this piece, and that makes it different from most improvements to a campaign. You can postpone the switch, but you cannot skip it, and after February 2027 you cannot go back to what you had. That is the reason to spend an afternoon on it now rather than a week next year.
You can do most of the above yourself. Saving your search terms report, setting up your conversion tracking, scheduling your call assets and only switching off the old campaign once the new one is running: that is work, not rocket science. If you are unsure about the order, or your campaign gets stuck on something you cannot work out yourself, put it to us once. Through contact we schedule a half-hour call in which we go through your campaign overview together: which campaigns are genuinely Call-Only, how much budget and how many calls hang on them, and in what order you move them over. You then get a plan with dates in it, even if the conclusion is that you can perfectly well do this yourself.
If you would rather have someone carry it out, having your Google Ads run for you covers what we take on, and the pricing page NL covers what it costs. If you are also facing a second migration at the same time, the DSA and AI Max migration is the piece that goes with it.