Earlier this week the following screenshot was sent to Search Engine Land:
I couldn’t duplicate it. Here’s the relevant detail:
A few years ago Google tested “Click to Call” in AdWords. It involved exposure of a field, like the one above, that remembered users’ telephone numbers (once entered) and connected calls. It was around in 2005 and 2006 and then resurfaced in 2008:
Google also had a similar call-connection feature in Maps, though it was discontinued it in 2007.
Then Google launched AdWords Comparison Ads in 2009:
This is CPA-lead-gen; it can generate phone calls but also email leads. And of course Google launched Click to Call in mobile earlier this year, extending the program to a number of mobile ad formats including the new expandable map ads:
Google has a relatively long history and ongoing interest in using the phone as an advertising tool.
As a practical matter the company is now selling PPCall and has integrated the phone as a lead-gen source for CPA advertisers on the PC and more broadly made calls available for all advertisers in mobile. I predicted earlier that Google will start offering call tracking ad part of AdWords campaigns (where phone calls are being generated) in the not-too-distant future.
