If the majority of your inquiries come in by phone, forms and traditional online conversions are only half the story. With Google Ads Call Tracking, you can finally understand which campaigns, ads and keywords actually lead to calls – and target your budget where it really rings.
What types of call tracking are there in Google Ads?
Google differentiates between several sources for telephone conversions:
- Call directly from the ad (Call Ads / Call Assets)
→ Users call directly from the search ad without visiting your website. - Click on phone number
→ User clicks on a linked phone number on your website (click-to-call). - Call forwarding (website calls with Google number)
→ Your number on the website will be replaced by a Google forwarding number after an Ads click.
Call tracking type 1: Call from an ad (Call Ads / Call Assets)
Here the user calls directly from the ad without first visiting your website – e.g. via:
- Call ads (formerly “call-only ads”)
- Call assets (call extensions) or location assets with telephone number
- Location extensions with telephone number
With activated call reporting, Google uses forwarding numbers here and can record these calls as conversions.
Advantages - Call from an ad
Users can call directly from the search results – ideal for mobile users
Particularly strong in emergency services (locksmiths, local tradesmen, etc.)
Detailed call data (duration, time, area code, connected/not connected)
Conversion tracking is set up directly in Google Ads – GTM is not absolutely necessary for this
Disadvantages - Call from an ad
- No website visit – you do not see how the user would have behaved on the page
- It must be ensured that someone is available during the ad placement
- GTM plays practically no role in call tracking here
- Forwarding numbers are not permanently assigned to your brand
Google forwarding numbers are usually part of a number pool and can later be assigned to other companies.- If a user saves the phone number from your ad in their cell phone and only calls back the next day or later, they may end up with another company that has been assigned this number in the meantime.
- Conversely, you may receive calls from people who actually wanted to reach another company whose previous forwarding number is now assigned to your account.
This causes confusion and is problematic from a brand and service perspective.
Conclusion
Ideal if your absolute primary goal is “more calls, fewer clicks” – but with clear implications for brand, accessibility and number logic.
How to set up call tracking type 1 in Google Ads
- Activate call reporting
- Activate call reports/call reporting in Google Ads under the account settings.
- Create call ads or call assets
- Either create your own call campaign
- or add call assets (call extensions) in search campaigns and enter your business number.
- Assign conversion action
- Ensure that the “Calls from ads” conversion is active or that a separate call conversion has been created for it.
- Set minimum duration (e.g. 60 seconds) and counting method.
- Monitoring
- Show columns for call conversions, call duration, etc.
- Evaluate campaigns according to “telephone conversions” and optimize bids/budgets accordingly
Call tracking type 2: Click on the telephone number (click-to-call)
The user clicks on a “tel:” link on your website, e.g.:
<a href="tel:+491234567890">Jetzt anrufen</a>
You can count this click as a conversion – either only in Analytics (e.g. GA4) or directly in Google Ads as the conversion type “Clicks on your phone number on a mobile website”.
Advantages - click on the phone number
- Very easy to implement – only one click event required
- Works without Google forwarding number
- Ideal for initial tracking steps if you want to quickly see how often users click on “Call”
- Platform-independent – also works if you also use your own call tracking system
Disadvantages - Click on the phone number
- You only measure the click, not the actual call
- No information on duration, missed calls, region of the caller, etc.
- User can cancel the call before it is set up – the click is still counted as a “conversion”
Conclusion
Perfect as an introduction or additional key figure – but not sufficient on its own for a serious evaluation of telephone leads.
How to set up call tracking type 2 (click-to-call) with the Tag Manager
Prerequisite:
- A conversion action for “clicks on phone number” (type 2) already exists in Google Ads
- You have the conversion ID and conversion label to hand
Step 1: Create triggers for phone clicks
- In the GTM, go to “Trigger” → “New”.
- Name: e.g. Click – phone link (tel:).
- Trigger type:
- “Links only” (recommended) or “All elements”, depending on the setup.
- Set condition:
- Click URL contains tel:
- Save trigger.
This means that the trigger fires whenever a user clicks on a link with tel:.
Step 2: Create Google Ads conversion tag for click-to-call
- In the GTM to “Tags” → “New”.
- Tag name: e.g. GAW – Conversion – Click-to-Call.
- Tag type: Select “Google Ads Conversion Tracking”.
- Enter the conversion ID and conversion label of the type 2 conversion from Google Ads.
- Select the trigger click – telephone link (tel:) under “Triggering”.
- Save tag.
Step 3: Test setup
- Activate the preview mode in the GTM.
- Open your website in debug mode.
- Click on a linked telephone number.
- Check in the debug window whether the GAW – Conversion – Click-to-Call tag is triggered.
If everything fits, you can publish the changes in GTM. From now on, clicks on the phone number will be counted as conversions in Google Ads.
Call tracking type 3: Call forwarding (website calls with Google number)
Google uses a forwarding number for website call conversions:
- User clicks on a Google Ads ad and lands on your website.
- Your real phone number is dynamically replaced by a Google forwarding number.
- The user calls this Google number and the call is forwarded to your real number.
- If the call meets your criteria (e.g. minimum duration), it is counted as a conversion.
Advantages - Call forwarding
- You measure real calls, not just clicks
- You can define a minimum duration (e.g. 30 or 60 seconds) → better lead quality
- Precise assignment to campaigns, ad groups, keywords
Evaluation of additional call data (duration, time, area code, etc.)
Disadvantages - Call forwarding
- Only works if the user has previously come to the website via a Google Ads ad
- Forwarding numbers are not available in all countries
- With many different phone numbers on the website, the setup can become complex
- Different phone number on the website
For tracking purposes, Google replaces your home number with its own forwarding number:- Users do not see your known main number, but another number from the Google pool.
- This can appear unusual from a brand and trust perspective and weaken the recognition value of your actual number.
- If a user saves the forwarding number in their cell phone, they will call the tracking number instead of your real number. If it is later assigned to another company, callbacks may end up in vain or with another provider.
Conclusion
The best choice if you really want to understand which Google Ads clicks lead to valuable phone calls – with the trade-off that a different number is displayed.
How to set up call tracking type 3 (call forwarding) with the Tag Manager
Prerequisite:
- In Google Ads there is a conversion action “Calls to a phone number on your website” (type 3)
- You have a conversion ID and conversion label
- The telephone number in the conversion is stored exactly as it is on the website (incl. spaces/brackets)
Step 1: Check website call conversion in Google Ads
- In the conversion campaign:
- Check phone number
- Set minimum duration (e.g. 60 seconds)
- Select “Google Tag Manager” as the implementation method (if not already done)
Step 2: Create "Calls from website" tag in GTM
- In the GTM to “Tags” → “New”.
- Name: e.g. GAW – Website Call Conversion.
- Tag type: Select “Google Ads Calls from website conversion”.
- Enter the following:
- Conversion ID
- Conversion Label
- Displayed Phone Number to Replace → Phone number exactly as it is displayed on the website
- Trigger:
- often “All Pages” if the number is in the header, for example
- or pageview trigger only for relevant pages (e.g. /contact/)
Save tag.
Step 3: Debug with #google-wcc-debug
- Activate GTM preview.
- Call up the page with the phone number and append #google-wcc-debug to the URL, e.g.:
https://www.deine-domain.de/kontakt#google-wcc-debug - A debug window for website call conversions appears.
- There you can use “Force” to replace all recognized phone numbers with dummy numbers as a test and check whether your target number is recognized and replaced correctly.
If everything runs smoothly, publish the changes in GTM. From then on, calls via the forwarding number are counted as conversions.
Monitoring & optimization
No matter what type – you should always do a few things:
- Show relevant columns in Google Ads:
- Conversions, All conversions
- For call types: Call duration, start time, call status if applicable
- Evaluate campaigns according to telephone conversions:
- Which keywords/ads deliver the most/most valuable calls?
- Move bids/budgets accordingly
- Check regularly whether:
- Continue to fire tags cleanly in the GTM (changes to the theme/code can destroy triggers)
- Conversion figures match your actual call volume halfway
For an initial overview, yes – you can see how often users click on “Call”.
However, this is not enough for a proper evaluation of lead quality, because you don’t know whether the call was made or how long the call was.
If you want to optimize seriously, you should at least add website call conversions with forwarding number (type 3).
No, you have three options:
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Track click-to-call only(type 2)
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Use an external call tracking tool (and import its data into Google Ads)
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Or just use the Google forwarding numbers(type 1 & 3)
If you want to evaluate as much as possible directly in Google Ads, the forwarding numbers are often the most pragmatic way.
Yes, Google Call Tracking (incl. forwarding numbers) is available in many countries, including Germany.
The exact list of countries may change – so it’s worth taking a look at the latest Google Ads Help.
You define this yourself in the respective conversion campaign.
Typically, the minimum duration is 30 or 60 seconds so that only “real calls” and not missed calls or very short test calls are counted as conversions.
Basically yes, but:
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Google’s standard setup is designed for one central number per page.
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With several numbers, the configuration effort increases (more tags, differentiated triggers).
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In complex scenarios (many locations/departments), a specialized call tracking tool may be the better choice.
Quick checklist:
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Use the GTM preview:
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Click on phone number → triggers the click-to-call tag(type 2)?
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Page call → fires the website call tag(type 3)?
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#google-wcc-debugto check whether telephone numbers are correctly recognized and replaced. -
Make test calls via real ad clicks.
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Check in Google Ads after a few hours/days whether call conversions have been received.
