If you have ever tried to figure out how to track calls from your Google Ads campaigns, you know it can feel like piecing together a puzzle with missing pieces. Everywhere you look, people are asking the same questions:
“How do you track a phone call from an ad?”
“Is there a way to see which ad or keyword led to the call?”
There is a lot of advice floating around, but most of it either skips important steps or leaves you with more questions than answers. Even Google’s guides often assume you already know the basics.
This guide breaks everything down in simple terms. You’ll learn what Google Ads call tracking is, how it works, and how to set it up properly.
You’ll also learn why the basics might not be enough and when to level up with a third-party advanced call tracking platform.
What Is Google Ads Call Tracking?
Google Ads call tracking lets you measure which ads, campaigns, and keywords drive phone calls to your business. Instead of guessing what made someone call, you see exactly what triggered the action.
It works by assigning a special forwarding number to your ad or website. When a user calls this number, Google tracks key details like call time, duration, and caller location. This call tracking data ties the call back to the ad they interacted with.
If your business relies on phone leads, call tracking isn’t optional. Without it, you are running ads without seeing half of what they deliver.
Does Tracking Phone Calls Improve ROI?
Call tracking gives you visibility into real lead sources that most businesses miss. Without call tracking, you only see surface-level metrics like clicks and form submissions.
The phone calls, which often turn into faster and higher-value sales, slip through the cracks. Tracking calls brings those hidden conversations into focus and helps you see the full impact of your marketing efforts.
It also shows what is truly driving results. Not every ad that earns clicks brings in customers. Some ads may generate lots of traffic without a single phone call. Call tracking connects the dots between ad spend and real conversations, revealing which keywords, ads, and campaigns are moving the needle.
How Google Ads Call Tracking Works
Google uses a system called Google forwarding numbers (GFNs) to track calls. When someone clicks your ad or visits your landing page, Google swaps your regular phone number with a unique, trackable number. This is called dynamic number insertion (DNI).
The forwarding number looks like a normal phone number to the customer. When they call it, the call routes to your real business line. Behind the scenes, Google captures important data like call start time, call duration, caller area code, and the ad interaction that triggered the call.
What Google Ads Tracks During a Call
Google Ads call tracking does more than count phone calls. It collects key data points that help you measure ad performance and improve your marketing strategy.
Here is the information you get when call tracking is properly set up:
- Call start and end times to measure call length
- Call duration to identify high-quality leads
- Caller area code to understand geographic trends
- Click or ad interaction data that ties the call back to a specific ad, keyword, or campaign
While this information is helpful, it has limitations. You don’t get call recordings, caller names, or details about the conversation itself. If you need deeper insights into call quality or outcomes, a third-party call tracking platform like Analytic Call Tracking can fill that gap.
4 Types of Call Conversions You Can Track in Google Ads
Google Ads gives you multiple ways to track phone calls, depending on how your leads interact with your ads. Each method has strengths and weaknesses.
Let’s walk through the different types of phone call conversions you can track with Google Ads:
1. Calls from Ads
Calls from ads happen when someone taps the phone number directly inside your call ads. This includes call extensions and call-only ads. Google assigns a forwarding number to track when the call takes place.
This method is great for businesses that want users to call right away without visiting a website first.
Benefits:
- Quick and easy to set up within your campaign settings
- Tracks calls that happen instantly from mobile or desktop ads
Limitations:
- Only tracks direct calls from ads, not calls after visiting your site
- No details about what happens during the call
If most of your customers call after checking out your website, you’ll want to track calls to your site’s phone number too.
2. Calls to a Phone Number on Your Website
When someone clicks your ad and visits your website, Google can dynamically swap in a forwarding number using dynamic number insertion. This tracks when the visitor calls after browsing your site.
Website call tracking helps you understand which landing pages or offers drive the most valuable calls.
Benefits:
- Captures calls that happen after ad clicks, not just immediate calls
- Helps tie phone calls back to specific keywords or pages
Limitations:
- Requires technical setup with website tagging or Google Tag Manager
- Doesn’t capture full conversation details or caller intent
Sometimes, people will not call immediately, but they’ll click a phone link. You can track that action too.
3. Click-to-Call Conversions on Mobile
Click-to-call tracking records when users tap a phone number link on your mobile site. It counts the click, but not the actual call.
This method helps you measure mobile engagement even if you cannot track the full, meaningful phone call.
Benefits:
- Easy to set up through event tracking or Google Tag Manager
- Shows which pages or buttons drive call interest
Limitations:
- Only tracks clicks, not confirmed calls
- Cannot measure call outcomes or conversation quality
If you want full visibility into calls, from the click all the way to the sale, importing call conversions is a better option.
4. Imported Call Conversions from Third-Party Platforms
Imported call conversions use external call tracking software to collect detailed call data and send it back into Google Ads. This gives you much deeper visibility into call performance and helps you integrate advanced analytics into your pay-per-click (PPC) ads management.
You can track call outcomes, score leads, and even connect calls to customer relationship management (CRM) systems for full-funnel analysis.
Benefits:
- Full control over call recordings, outcomes, and lead data
- Accurate attribution to campaigns, ad groups, and keywords
Limitations:
- Requires a paid call tracking platform with Google Ads integration
- Takes time and technical setup to connect systems properly
How to Set Up Google Ads Call Tracking
Now that you know the four ways to track calls, let’s explore how to set up Google Ads call tracking.
Setting Up Call Extensions and Call-Only Ads
Call extensions and call-only ads let users call your business directly from the search results. When you enable call reporting and meet your minimum call duration, these are tracked as conversions.
This is an ideal option for businesses that want to drive valuable calls without requiring users to visit a website first.
How to set it up:
- In your Google Ads setup, go to Goals and create a new conversion action.
- Select “Phone Calls” and choose “Calls from ads using call extensions or call-only ads.”
- Set your goal type, conversion name, and value per conversion (if applicable).
- Choose whether to count every call or one per ad click.
- Set a call length threshold (e.g., 60 seconds) to filter out low-quality interactions.
- Enable call reporting, and select your attribution model and conversion window.
- Save the settings and link your call ads or assets.
This setup uses Google forwarding numbers to track the call and report attribution data like call duration and caller area code. It’s ideal for measuring high-intent calls that start right from your ad.
Setting Up Website Call Tracking with Google Tag Manager
Website call tracking helps you capture calls made after a user visits your landing page. This works by dynamically swapping your regular phone number with a Google forwarding number.
How to set it up:
- In Google Ads, create a new conversion action for calls to your website number.
- Choose “Phone Calls” and select “Calls to a phone number on your website.”
- Use Google Tag Manager to install the tracking tag and configure a trigger.
- Make sure the number swap happens only for users who arrive via a Google Ad.
This approach gives you a clearer picture of which pages and campaigns drive the most phone leads, even if the user doesn’t call right away. It’s essential for tracking calls that result from ad clicks and lead to your site, but don’t happen immediately.
Setting Up Click-to-Call Conversions
Click-to-call conversions track when someone taps a phone number, button, or link on the mobile version of your website. These are tracked as clicks, not actual phone calls, and don’t require Google forwarding numbers.
How to set it up:
- In Google Ads, create a new conversion action for mobile number clicks.
- Choose “Phone Calls” and select “Clicks on your number on your mobile website.”
- Add the event snippet to your phone number link or button.
- Use Google Tag Manager if you want to manage everything without editing code directly.
This setup is fast and useful for mobile-first businesses, especially those looking to measure engagement. However, it won’t tell you if a call was answered or if it turned into a meaningful phone call.
Setting Up Imported Call Conversions
Imported conversions let you bring external call data into Google Ads, giving you precise attribution and insights into call outcomes. This method works best when you’re using a call tracking platform that captures Google Click IDs (GCLIDs).
How to set it up:
- Work with a call tracking provider that records GCLIDs from your Google Ads traffic.
- Collect call data, including the Google Click ID and call details.
- Format the data according to Google’s offline conversion import specs.
- Upload the file to Google Ads or set up automated imports if supported.
With this method, you can track which ads lead to booked appointments, qualified leads, or actual sales, not just phone activity. It’s ideal for advanced users who want to integrate call data with CRMs or track conversion tracking beyond clicks.
Why Native Google Ads Call Tracking May Not Be Enough
Google’s built-in call tracking is helpful, but it’s not designed for teams that rely on phone calls to drive revenue. If you need more than just conversion tracking, you’ll quickly hit its limits.
You Can’t See the Call Quality
Google shows when a call happened and how long it lasted, but that’s it. You don’t know if the call was a lead, a wrong number, or a hang-up. Even in detailed Google Ads reports, you’re left guessing about actual call outcomes.
You Don’t Get Call Recordings or Transcriptions
There’s no way to review conversations or assess call outcomes. That means no sales coaching, no lead scoring, and no way to improve based on actual conversations.
Without access to the call log and recordings, understanding the real value of each call becomes impossible.
Shared Forwarding Numbers Create Confusion
Google sometimes reuses forwarding numbers across different advertisers. This can lead to irrelevant calls getting counted as conversions in your account. Plus, Google counts these calls the same way, regardless of lead quality, which can skew your results.
It Doesn’t Connect With Your CRM
You can’t sync call data with your sales system to see which ads lead to revenue. That disconnect makes it hard to prove ROI from phone calls. Without tying calls back to existing customers, it’s nearly impossible to track full customer journeys.
The Reporting Is Shallow
You can’t filter by lead quality, track which calls resulted in a sale, or adjust automated bid strategies based on call outcomes. You’re stuck optimizing based on surface-level data instead of focusing on what actually drives revenue.
If calls matter to your business, surface-level data won’t cut it. To truly optimize your ad spend, you need to know which ad clicks lead to real results, and Google’s native tracking can’t tell you that.
That’s where a platform like Analytic Call Tracking steps in. It fills the gaps, tracks the full customer journey, and gives you deeper visibility into what your calls are really worth.
Is Google Ads Call Tracking Enough for Your Business?
Google’s estimation gives you basic insight into how ads drive phone calls. It’s a good starting point if you only need simple reporting. But if your business depends on inbound calls to drive real revenue, Google’s native tracking has limits you can’t afford to ignore.
Analytic Call Tracking gives you more ways to track and optimize your calls:
- Shows which campaign, ad, and keyword drove each call lead with tracking features like dynamic number insertion and call outcome tagging.
- Swaps in unique tracking numbers on landing pages based on where the visitor came from, making attribution crystal clear.
- Tracks call outcomes, records conversations, and sends track conversions data directly into your Google Ads account through the Professional and Agency plans.
- Unlocks valuable insights by tying calls to location assets so you can see how local presence drives leads.
- Pushes attribution and call data into other CRMs and platforms, giving you full visibility across all your advertising efforts, not just inside Google Ads.
You can also start with a 15-day free trial to see how it fits your business. If you want a guided walkthrough, you can book a demo and see how everything works.
FAQs About Google Ads Call Tracking
What is Google Ads call tracking?
Google Ads call tracking is a feature that tracks phone calls made from your ads or website after someone clicks an ad. It helps you connect calls back to specific campaigns, ad groups, and keywords so you can see what drives real leads. It even allows you to monitor asset counts related to your ads.
Can Google Analytics track phone calls?
Google Analytics alone doesn’t track phone calls automatically. You need to set up event tracking or integrate a call tracking platform that can push call data into Analytics. It’s also smart to combine this with search data, such as analyzing search terms that triggered the calls.
How do I check calls on Google Ads?
To check calls in Google Ads, go to your account and navigate to the “Predefined Reports” section. From there, select “Extensions” and then “Call Details” to view data like call time, duration, and caller area code linked to your ads.
How do I turn off call tracking on Google Ads?
You can turn off call tracking by editing or removing call extensions and disabling call reporting for your ads. Go into the ad extension settings or conversion actions you set up for calls and either pause or delete them, depending on what you want to stop tracking.
