Enhanced click-to-call phone numbers

We recently announced new click to call phone numbers for local and national ads in the United States, and we're excited to make those features available to advertisers in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand.

When people search for goods or services using their mobile phones, they often prefer to call a store rather than visit that store's website. Whether they're placing a direct order, making a reservation, or inquiring about services, the ability for customers to easily call your business and act now is a unique feature of searches made on mobile phones versus computers.

Now, make it even easier for potential customers to reach you by adding a business phone number in ads that appear on mobile devices. Users will be able to click the number to call, just as easily as clicking to visit your website.

For ad campaigns targeting users of mobile devices with full internet browsers like Phones, Android or Palm Pre, there are two ways to let customers connect with your business phone number directly from your ad:

1. Using phone extensions, you can display a phone number whenever your ad is triggered, regardless of the user's location – this can especially be useful if you have a call center. Your number appears as the last line of any ad text within existing or new campaigns.

2. Using location extensions, you can display a phone number that is displayed based on the user’s location. Your potential customer will see -- and can click to call -- the phone number of your store location that's nearest to them, not one that's across town. This is especially useful for advertisers who are targeting local audiences.

Advertisers who participated in the beta trial have seen improved click-through rates and many have received more visits to their websites in addition to incremental phone calls. The cost of a click to call your business will be the same as the cost of a click to visit your website.

Give it a try today. It takes just two-steps to add a phone number to your mobile ads, whether you want to target customers at the national or local levels.

1. Add your business phone number with phone extensions to show your ad to customers nationally, regardless of their location. Or add your business phone number with location extensions to let customers call your business location nearest to them.

2. Ensure that you've chosen to show your ads on iPhones and other mobile devices with full Internet browsers in your campaign settings.

To find out how many calls you've received from your ads, go to the Campaign Summary tab in your AdWords account. Click the "Filter and views" dropdown (step 1 in the screenshot below) and select "Segment by", then "Click Type" (steps 2, 3). The report shows how many clicks and how many calls you received (step 4). You can view calls received at the campaign, ad group or keyword level.

Posted by Matthew Davison, Account Strategist