Google is retiring call only ads. The ones in your account stop receiving impressions in February 2027, and an impression is one showing of your ad. The replacement Google names is a responsive search ad with call assets. That keeps your phone number on the ad, so a searcher doesn’t have to visit your site to call you.
Here’s why the timing matters. When call only ads stop receiving impressions, the calls they bring stop with them, unless a replacement ad is already running. Google’s own steps have you keep the old ad until the new one is approved and performing. So the switch has room when you start it well before February 2027. The plan is short: move the ads over early, and keep counting the calls.
What Is Changing With Call Only Ads?
The ad type itself is being phased out. The sentence in Google Ads Help’s announcement reads, “Call ads (call-only ads) are being deprecated.” Deprecated means Google is retiring it. The same notice says that to keep generating phone call leads, you have to move to call assets inside responsive search ads. Two dates carry the change.
- February 2026: the options to create a new call only ad were removed.
- February 2027: all existing call only ads stop receiving impressions.
So the first date has passed. You can’t build a fresh call only ad in the account any more, and if you went looking for that option and couldn’t find it, that’s the reason. The call only ads already in the account keep running. They keep showing until February 2027. Then they stop.
What Replaces a Call Only Ad?
Google’s answer is a responsive search ad with call assets. A call asset adds your business phone number to a search ad, so a searcher can call you straight from it. A responsive search ad carries several headlines and descriptions. Google says it tests combinations of them to find the ones likely to perform for a given search and searcher.
For you, the useful part stays put. A call can still come straight from the ad. What’s different is everything around it. A call only ad had one job, and that job was the phone. A responsive search ad keeps a phone number on the ad and sends clicks to your site as well. A click on the headline lands the searcher on a page of yours, so that landing page needs the phone number where it’s plain to see. The switch gives you two things to watch instead of one: the page and the call counting.
How Do You Switch Before February 2027?
You build the replacement first, then retire the old ad. The steps on Google Ads Help’s transition page run in that order. The work happens inside an ad group, which is the set of ads that shares a group of keywords.
- Add your business name to the account or campaign settings.
- Add every relevant phone number as a call asset, in line with Google’s policy.
- Create a responsive search ad in the ad group you want, or change one that is already there, and add the call assets to it.
- Once the new or changed responsive search ad is approved and begins performing, remove the old call ad.
The order is the point. Your old ad keeps running while the new one gets approved and starts to perform. That’s when the old one comes down. If the ad group already runs a responsive search ad, Google’s steps let you modify that one instead of building another. The overlap is why starting well before February 2027 helps: it gives the new ad room to clear approval while the old one is still there.
What Should You Check Before You Start?
Start with an inventory of what you have. A few checks keep the switch from catching you out halfway through, when you’re staring at an account and trying to remember which campaign rings which phone. Answer them on paper first, and the rebuild stops being guesswork.
- Find every campaign and ad group that still holds a call only ad.
- Note the phone number each one uses, so your call assets match it.
- Check that the business name in the account is the one you want on the ad.
- Make sure the page your new ad will send clicks to shows the phone number near the top.
- Decide how you’ll count calls before the old ads come down.
How Will You Keep Counting the Calls?
Count both kinds of call. After the switch, a call can come straight from the call asset on the ad, or it can come from your website after someone clicks through. Spilt Media’s post on calls placed from your website after a click explains why that second kind needs tracking of its own.
You may not want to change the phone number your customers already know. There’s a route that doesn’t ask you to. Our post on call tracking without switching phone providers is the related read.
The owner-level point is short. A call from the asset and a call from your site are the same thing to your business. Count them the same way, and judge the new ads on all the calls they bring in. Leave one kind untracked and your record of what the ads did stays incomplete.
When Is It Worth Getting Help?
Spilt Media’s Google Ads management page says phone calls, form submissions, chat initiations and purchases are tracked and attributed to specific keywords and ads, and that the team sets up conversion tracking on every campaign, including call tracking.
So when is help worth it? Help earns its place when several ad groups hold call only ads, when the phone is the main way leads arrive, or when nobody in the business has the time to build the new ads and watch them afterward. Either way, the work is the same. The new ads have to exist, clear approval and start performing before the old ones come down.
If that sounds like your account, book a consultation with Spilt Media to plan the switch and the call tracking behind it before February 2027.
Frequently Asked Questions About Call Only Ads
Can I Still Create a Call Only Ad?
No. Google removed the options to create one in February 2026. The replacement is a responsive search ad with call assets, built in the ad group you choose.
Will My Existing Call Only Ads Keep Running?
Until February 2027, yes. Google says all existing call only ads stop receiving impressions that month. Until then they keep showing, so you pick when the switch happens.
Do I Have to Delete My Call Only Ads Myself?
Google’s steps have you do it, and they put it last. Once the new or changed responsive search ad is approved and begins performing, you remove the old call ad. That order keeps an ad running through the switch.
Can a Responsive Search Ad Still Bring Phone Calls?
Yes. Google’s announcement recommends replacing call only ads with responsive search ads that carry call assets, so you keep receiving calls from ads. The call asset is the piece that puts your phone number on the ad.
