Ginny Marvin says, “On Thursday, some AdWords advertisers received an unexpected email from Google explaining upcoming changes to the phone numbers that appear in ads. The change affects campaigns that use both call extensions and location extensions.

Google has expanded exposure for ads that include location extensions over the past year, including showing ads in Maps and in Local Finder results. As of January 19, 2017,  Google says it “may” show the local retail phone number when that store’s location extension shows in an ad even if a call extension in the campaign uses a different phone number in order to increase the relevance of ads that feature specific business locations.

The two-week notice was the first communication of the change. Asked why the email says a location-specific phone number “may be used” instead of “will be used,” a Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land that they are continuously testing. That means it’s possible the ads could still potentially show (correction) with either number no number in the location extension.

Advertisers that have location extensions are advised to ensure their Google My Business listings have the accurate phone numbers for each location.

And that brings us to the problems that many advertisers will face with this change”.

Google to start showing local-specific phone numbers when location extensions appear in ads

Search Engine Land

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