Google Call Ads Checklist
Google is retiring the ad format most call campaign guides still teach. New call-only ads cannot be created since February 2026, and the ones still running stop serving in February 2027. If phone calls are how your business gets work, the next two quarters decide whether that pipeline migrates cleanly or falls over during your busiest week.
This checklist is the migration plus everything around it: 121 checks covering call tracking, the switch to responsive search ads with call assets, Business Profile setup, campaign settings that quietly waste budget, launch QA, and the weekly routine that keeps a call campaign honest. Section 10 lists the features Google has removed that old guides still recommend. A few of them can get a profile suspended.
Work top to bottom. Clear the Critical items before you care about your score.
Built by Just Lead Market. We run Google Ads for ecommerce and lead gen clients, and this is the sequence we use when an account still depends on call-only ads: tracking first, migration second, optimization last. Every dated claim links to Google's own documentation in the sources section.
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How the grades work
Every check carries a grade and a source tag.
- Critical. Weighted 3x. Platform deadlines, policy and legal requirements, and default settings that burn budget quietly. There are 32 of them.
- High. Weighted 2x. What we do on client accounts because skipping it costs money within a month.
- Standard. Weighted 1x. Worth doing once Critical and High are clear.
Source tags: Google means Google's own documentation or announcements. Policy means Google Ads policies. Law means a legal requirement. Field means practice from Just Lead Market client accounts, labelled as such so you can tell our judgement from Google's rules.
Grades:Critical: deadlines, policy, law, or quiet budget wasteHigh: costs money within a month if skippedStandard: do once C and H are clearSource tags explained below
Tracking and call measurement
Section 1 · 15 checksDo this before you spend. If calls are not counted correctly, every bid decision downstream is made on bad data.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Without it Google cannot report call duration, start time, or area code from your ads.
How to verify. Google Ads: Admin, then Account settings, then Call reporting. Set to On.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Call reporting runs on Google forwarding numbers. They are not offered everywhere, and without them you only get click counts, not call detail.
How to verify. Check the call reporting availability list in Google Ads Help for your country before you promise call data to anyone.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. This is the conversion smart bidding will optimize toward. If it is Secondary or missing, the algorithm optimizes for clicks.
How to verify. Goals, then Conversions. Look for a Phone calls conversion with Primary status.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Google defaults to 60 seconds. Pick the shortest length a real enquiry takes in your business, often 30 to 90 seconds. Too low and misdials count as wins; too high and real leads vanish from reports.
How to verify. Open the call conversion action, check Call length, and write down why you chose that number.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Most people click through, browse, then dial the number on your site. Without website call tracking those calls look like nothing happened.
How to verify. Set up the Calls from a website conversion. It swaps your on-site number for a forwarding number for paid visitors.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The number swap only works where the tag fires. One missing template and calls from that page go dark.
How to verify. Use Tag Assistant or GA4 DebugView on your money pages, not just the homepage.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Setups pass in preview and fail in the wild all the time.
How to verify. Visit your landing page from a paid ad click test or with gclid parameters, and confirm the number on screen is a forwarding number, not your static line.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Category tells Google what kind of outcome this is and keeps your conversion reports readable when you add more actions later.
How to verify. Open the conversion action settings and check the Category field.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. You pay the same for a missed call as an answered one. Most accounts never measure the gap.
How to verify. Compare Google's reported calls against calls your team actually answered, weekly. A phone log or call tracking tool makes this painless.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Google Ads does not record calls. If you want recordings for quality control, that is a call tracking platform's job, and recording laws differ: several US states and many countries require every party to consent.
How to verify. If recordings exist, confirm the announcement or consent step is in place and matches the strictest region you serve.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. A 3 minute call can be a tyre kicker or a 5,000 dollar job. Import offline conversions or enhanced conversions for leads so bidding learns from revenue, not ring time.
How to verify. Check Goals, then Conversions for an import or enhanced conversions for leads setup connected to your CRM or lead sheet.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Since March 2024, Google requires consent signals for personalized ads measurement in those regions. Without it your reported conversions there degrade.
How to verify. Check your consent banner passes ad_storage and ad_user_data signals. Your tag or CMP documentation shows this.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. One place to sanity check Ads-reported calls against site behavior.
How to verify. Admin, then Product links in GA4. Confirm the Google Ads link is active.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Running Google call conversions and a third-party tracker that also posts conversions doubles your numbers and halves your reported CPA. Bidding then overspends.
How to verify. Pick one primary source per call type. Set the other to Secondary or observation only.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Value-based bidding and sane reporting both need a number. An estimated average job value beats a blank.
How to verify. Open each call conversion action and check the Value field is not zero or empty by accident.
The call ads sunset: migrate to RSAs with call assets
Section 2 · 10 checksGoogle announced on October 3, 2025 that call-only ads are being retired. Since February 2026 you cannot create new ones. In February 2027 the remaining ones stop serving. This section is the migration.
- Oct 3, 2025Retirement announced
- Feb 2026Creation removed
- Feb 2027Serving ends
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. You cannot migrate what you have not found. Old campaigns hide old formats.
How to verify. Ads screen, filter by Ad type, then Call ad. Export the list with campaign, ad group, number, and status.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Creation ended February 2026. Serving ends February 2027. If Q4 matters to the business, finish migration before October 2026 so learning happens in calm weeks, not peak ones.
How to verify. Set an internal deadline at least 8 weeks before you need stable volume.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. RSAs show your business name, and Google's own migration guide lists it as step one. It is also part of what makes old call ads eligible for automatic upgrade.
How to verify. Campaign settings or account settings, Business name field. Check it matches your Business Profile.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The RSA is the replacement vehicle. No RSA, no calls once the format dies.
How to verify. Go ad group by ad group through your inventory list from the first check.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. History and routing live on those numbers. Changing numbers mid-migration muddies before and after comparison.
How to verify. Assets, then Call. Match each number against the exported call ad list.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Google began rolling out stricter phone number verification in late 2025, covering call ads, call assets, and location assets. Unverified or mismatched numbers get limited or disapproved.
How to verify. Check asset status in the Assets table. Fix anything marked limited or disapproved before pausing old ads.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Cost per call, call-through rate, and volume by campaign. Without a baseline you cannot tell whether the RSA setup is better or just different.
How to verify. Pull a 90 day report segmented by ad type and save it outside Google Ads.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Pausing first creates a gap where you pay for nothing. Google's guide says replace, confirm performance, then remove.
How to verify. Watch the new RSAs collect impressions and calls for at least a week before pausing the legacy ads.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. A call-only ad had one outcome. An RSA sends a share of people to your site instead of the dialer. If the number is buried there, migration will read as a performance drop.
How to verify. Number visible in the first screen on mobile, sticky click to call button, and the click tracked as a conversion.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. For eligible categories, LSA charges per lead, shows above regular ads, and carries a Google badge. It is not a replacement for Search, but for some trades it is the cheaper call source.
How to verify. Check category and location eligibility on the Local Services Ads signup page.
Google Business Profile foundation
Section 3 · 14 checksYour profile feeds location assets, drives free calls, and is what people check after seeing your ad. It also carries suspension risk if set up the way 2019 guides taught.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Unverified profiles cannot be managed, and most edits will not stick.
How to verify. Search your business name on Google while signed in. Video verification is the common route now; postcards are rare.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Adding keywords or cities to the name violates Google's policy and is a leading cause of suspensions. It still ranks in every bad checklist.
How to verify. Compare the profile name against your signage and website. They should match exactly.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Primary category is a strong relevance signal. A generic pick wastes it.
How to verify. Edit profile, then Business category. Look for the narrowest honest fit, then add secondaries.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Mismatched numbers confuse verification, split call data, and look off to anyone cross-checking you.
How to verify. Compare profile, website, and call asset numbers side by side.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The call button gets pressed at the moments your hours say you are open. Wrong hours produce missed calls you cannot see anymore, since Google removed profile call history.
How to verify. Check regular and special hours each season.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Service entries help you show for service-specific searches and give the profile more to match against.
How to verify. Edit profile, then Services. One entry per real service, no keyword salad.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. It will not rank you by itself, but people read it before calling.
How to verify. 750 characters available. Lead with services and area. No slogans-only descriptions.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Real photos convert lookers into callers. Stock photos are recognized instantly and trusted never.
How to verify. At least a handful of current photos, refreshed every month or two.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Steady recent reviews move both the map pack and the decision to call. The ask is the whole system: a direct review link sent right after a good job.
How to verify. Profile, then Ask for reviews, gives you the short link. Check it is actually being sent, not just saved somewhere.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Replies are public customer service. Silence under a one star review costs calls.
How to verify. Scan the last 10 reviews for responses.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The link powers location assets on your search ads and lets your ads show your address and map pin.
How to verify. Google Ads: Tools, then Data manager or Linked accounts, then Business Profile. Approve the link from the profile side too.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Profile clicks otherwise blend into direct or organic traffic in GA4 and you cannot see what the profile actually sends.
How to verify. Append utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign to the website URL on the profile.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Anyone can answer questions on your profile, including competitors and guessers. Fill it first.
How to verify. Post the five questions customers actually ask, and answer them from the business account.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The Performance tab counts taps on the call button. The old call history feature with numbers and durations was removed on July 31, 2024, so this count is all Google gives you now.
How to verify. Profile, then Performance, then Calls. For real call detail, that is what your call tracking is for.
Campaign settings that protect budget
Section 4 · 12 checksMost wasted local spend traces back to five settings. All five are quiet defaults.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Google's new creation flow pushes you toward Performance Max when you select all channels. PMax has its place, but a call-focused local campaign needs the keyword and schedule control Search gives you.
How to verify. In the creation flow, pick specific channels and choose Search. In existing accounts, check the Type column.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Display traffic bolted onto a search campaign produces cheap clicks and near-zero calls.
How to verify. Campaign settings, then Networks. Untick Display Network.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Partner sites vary wildly in quality. Earn the right to test them later as a deliberate experiment, not a default.
How to verify. Campaign settings, then Networks. Untick search partners, revisit after you have stable conversion data.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Every click from a postcode you will not drive to is pure waste.
How to verify. Campaign settings, then Locations. Radius, postcodes, or towns matching your real coverage, drawn tighter than your optimism.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The default includes people merely interested in your area, which for a plumber in Leeds includes someone in Lisbon reading about Leeds. This one toggle quietly burns local budgets.
How to verify. Campaign settings, then Locations, then Location options. Select Presence.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Adjacent big cities and out of range suburbs leak in through radius edges.
How to verify. Add exclusions under the same Locations panel.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. A perfect call at 2am that rings out is money spent training the algorithm on failure. Schedule the campaign, or at minimum the call assets, to staffed hours.
How to verify. Campaign settings, then Ad schedule. Cross-check against who actually picks up at the edges of the day.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Schedules run on account time. A mismatch shifts every daypart silently.
How to verify. Admin, then Account settings, then Time zone. It cannot be changed later, so plan schedules around it.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. If the market CPC is 8 dollars and the budget is 10, you are buying one visitor a day and calling it a campaign. Fund it or narrow it.
How to verify. Divide daily budget by top of page bid estimates in Keyword Planner. Under 5 clicks a day, narrow the keyword set or raise budget.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Brand calls close at a different rate and cost than cold searches. Mixed together, brand hides non-brand waste.
How to verify. One campaign for your name and close variants, one for service terms.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Calls, forms, and store visits pull bidding in different directions inside one campaign.
How to verify. Check conversion goal settings per campaign; use campaign-level goal selection where outcomes differ.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. There is no prize for even rotation in an RSA world.
How to verify. Campaign settings, then additional settings, then Ad rotation.
Keywords and negatives
Section 5 · 10 checksLocal call intent is narrow and urgent. The keyword job is to buy urgency and block everything else.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. One ad group per service lets the ad and landing page speak that service's language. Boiler repair and bathroom fitting are not the same conversation.
How to verify. List your services, then check each has its own ad group with matching ads.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Emergency, near me, same day, cost, quote. These are people with the phone already in hand. Research terms can wait for a content budget.
How to verify. Review the keyword list for urgency and buying modifiers versus how to and ideas phrasing.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The way people search for drain unblocking differs from boiler installs. One merged list flattens that.
How to verify. Keyword Planner plus your own search terms report, segmented by service.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Broad match on a fresh local account with thin conversion data hands the wheel to an algorithm that has learned nothing yet.
How to verify. Check match types in the keyword list. Broad is a later experiment, below.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. That is the only configuration where broad is defensible: the algorithm needs conversion signals to steer wide matching.
How to verify. If any broad keywords exist, confirm the campaign runs Target CPA or Maximize conversions and conversions are tracking correctly per the tracking section.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Free, jobs, salary, DIY, course, training, how to. Every local account bleeds through these until they are blocked.
How to verify. Tools, then Exclusion lists. One shared list applied to all call campaigns.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Town names sneak into queries and pull ads across your boundary even with tight geo targeting.
How to verify. Add out of area town and city names to the negative list as you spot them in search terms.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Bidding on them can work with comparison copy. Matching into them accidentally produces confused callers and angry hang ups. Both outcomes should be chosen, not stumbled into.
How to verify. Search terms report: if competitor names appear, either build a dedicated campaign or negate them.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The first week of a local campaign without negatives is a donation.
How to verify. Confirm the exclusion list was attached before ads went live, not added after the first bill.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Both can find query space you missed. Both will also spend freely on nonsense if they are the whole strategy. Run them in separate campaigns with their own budgets once the core is stable.
How to verify. If DSA or AI Max is on, check it lives in its own campaign with its own negative list.
Ads and assets
Section 6 · 14 checksThe ad's job is to look unmistakably local, unmistakably relevant, and one tap from a phone call.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Post-migration, the RSA is where your calls come from. Generic company ads across all ad groups throw away the relevance you built with tight ad groups.
How to verify. Open each ad group. The headlines should name the service, not just the company.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Service plus area, speed or availability, price signal, trust signal, and a call to action. Enough distinct headlines that Google can test real differences, not ten rewrites of one line.
How to verify. Read the headline list out loud. If several are the same idea reworded, replace them.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Google Ads policy disallows phone numbers in ad text. That is what call assets are for. Numbers in text get ads disapproved.
How to verify. Scan ad text. Numbers belong in the call asset only.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Every pinned position removes combinations Google can test. Pin only what compliance or brand truly requires.
How to verify. Check for pins in each RSA. Justify each one or remove it.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. They make the ad look like a real business rather than a text fragment. Both require advertiser verification.
How to verify. Assets, then Business name and Logo. Status should be approved.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. This is the tap to call button. Wrong or missing number here undoes everything upstream.
How to verify. Assets, then Call. Verify number, and that it is associated at the level you intend.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. This is what routes calls through a Google forwarding number so duration and conversion data exist.
How to verify. Edit the call asset, confirm call reporting is enabled where available in your country.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Asset-level scheduling lets the ad keep serving for site visits while the call button rests outside staffed hours.
How to verify. Edit the call asset, then Advanced options, then set days and hours.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Address, map pin, and distance make a local ad read as local. Requires the profile link from the Business Profile section.
How to verify. Assets, then Location. Confirm the profile is connected and the asset is serving.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. They expand your ad's footprint on the page. Specific beats generic: Emergency call out beats Our services.
How to verify. At least 4 sitelinks and 4 callouts per campaign, written for the service, not the org chart.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Same rule as the profile: your van, your team, your work. Stock imagery reads as filler.
How to verify. Assets, then Image. Swap anything you did not shoot or commission.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The searcher clicked boiler repair Leeds. A generic homepage headline breaks the thread and the call.
How to verify. Click each ad's final URL. The first heading should echo the ad group's intent.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Number visible without scrolling, sticky call button, page loads fast on mobile data. Our ecommerce CRO checklist covers page speed thresholds in depth; the same Core Web Vitals apply here.
How to verify. Load the page on a mid-range phone over 4G. Count seconds and taps to a call.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Otherwise your best converting element is invisible in reports.
How to verify. The Calls from a website conversion from the tracking section covers this. Confirm it fires on this specific page.
Bidding and budget
Section 7 · 8 checksBid strategy is a sequencing problem. The right strategy too early performs worse than the wrong one on schedule.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Until conversion data exists, conversion-based bidding is guessing with your money. A cap keeps the first weeks survivable. Note that Enhanced CPC no longer exists as a middle option; Google removed it by early 2025.
How to verify. Campaign settings, then Bidding. Confirm a max CPC limit is set if using Maximize clicks.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Top of page bid ranges per keyword give you the corridor. Start mid-corridor and adjust on data.
How to verify. Keyword Planner, then forecast or historical metrics for your exact terms and locations.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Automated bidding needs conversions to learn from. Switching on a handful of conversions produces the volume collapse everyone blames on the algorithm.
How to verify. Wait for steady weekly call conversions across several weeks before switching. When in doubt, wait another two weeks.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. If a call closes at 25 percent and an average job carries 200 in margin, a 50 target CPA breaks even. Set targets from that math, then add breathing room above it at first.
How to verify. Write the calculation down next to the target. If nobody can show the math, the target is a guess.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Every change restarts learning. Daily tinkering keeps the campaign permanently confused.
How to verify. Check the change history for bid strategy edits. Frequent edits are the tell.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Ten campaigns sharing a small budget means no campaign collects enough conversions to learn. Fewer, fuller campaigns beat many starved ones.
How to verify. If several campaigns each convert only a few times a month, merge siblings.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Limited by budget mid-month means your ads sleep through searches you paid to find.
How to verify. The Budgets report shows lost impression share due to budget. Rebalance or trim keywords.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. They are a scalpel for a promo weekend or a cold snap, not a general lever.
How to verify. Tools, then Bid strategies, then Advanced controls. Anything long-running there is a misuse.
Launch QA
Section 8 · 10 checksThirty minutes of checks that prevent the three classic launch disasters: wrong number, dead tag, wrong hours.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Limited status quietly caps where and when you serve, and number verification issues surface here first.
How to verify. Ads and Assets tables, Status column. Chase anything not plainly approved.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The single highest value test in this list. It catches wrong numbers, broken routing, and IVR dead ends at the cost of one phone call.
How to verify. Once live, tap the call button on your own ad during scheduled hours from a mobile. Confirm it rings the right line and a human answers.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Tracking platforms add a forwarding hop. Two hops means two places to break.
How to verify. Call through the full chain and confirm caller ID, whisper messages, and routing behave.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. A launch with a dead tag produces two weeks of blind spend before anyone notices.
How to verify. Tag Assistant on the landing page, plus check the conversion action shows Recording conversions within a day or two.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Re-test after launch. Deploys and cache layers break number insertion regularly.
How to verify. Visit via a real ad click and watch the number change.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. See the campaign settings section. Verify against reality: ads visible during open hours, invisible after.
How to verify. Do a live search at the edge of your schedule window, or check the ad schedule report next day.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Radius circles and postcode lists have off by one errors.
How to verify. Eyeball the map in Locations settings against where your vans actually go.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. 500 a day versus 50.0 a day is a mistake that gets found on invoice day.
How to verify. Read every budget and max CPC figure once, out loud if needed.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. A malformed template 404s every click while impressions look healthy.
How to verify. Use the Test button in URL options, then click a live ad once.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The ad's job ends when the phone rings. If whoever answers cannot quote, book, or take a message properly, the leak is downstream of Google Ads and no bid change fixes it.
How to verify. Agree a simple answer flow: greet, qualify, book or quote, ask how they found you.
Weekly and monthly management
Section 9 · 12 checksA call campaign is not a crock pot. This is the smallest routine that keeps one healthy.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. New junk queries appear constantly. Weekly sculpting is the difference between a tight campaign and a slow leak.
How to verify. Insights and reports, then Search terms. Fifteen minutes, add negatives as you go.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Short-call clusters point at a keyword, an ad promise, or an answering problem. Hour patterns tell you where the schedule is wrong.
How to verify. Reports on call detail, or your call tracking dashboard. Look for patterns, not single calls.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. A same-day callback rescues a real share of missed leads. An unexamined missed call is money gone twice.
How to verify. Compare answered versus reported calls. Every miss gets a callback and a note on why it was missed.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Two minutes to catch Limited by budget or runaway CPCs before they cost a full week.
How to verify. Campaigns table with budget and impression share columns.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Google shows which headlines and assets serve most. Feed the winners, replace the ignored.
How to verify. Ads, then View asset details per RSA. Assets table for call, sitelink, and image performance.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Ad group level is where the story lives. Campaign averages hide the ad group quietly eating a third of spend.
How to verify. Segment by ad group, sort by cost, ask each row whether it earned its keep.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. A few new photos, review replies, and a post keep the profile alive. Dead profiles decay slowly and invisibly.
How to verify. Calendar reminder. It takes 20 minutes.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Google will otherwise add broad keywords and raise budgets on your behalf. Recommendations are ideas to review, not changes to accept blind. This setting has a habit of needing re-checking.
How to verify. Recommendations, then the auto-apply settings menu. Untick everything you have not deliberately chosen.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The score measures adoption of Google's suggestions, not the health of your business. Dismissing irrelevant recommendations raises it without changing anything real.
How to verify. Review recommendations weekly, apply what makes sense, dismiss the rest without guilt.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The final loop: do reported conversions correspond to jobs booked and revenue in the books? If not, tighten call length or values in the tracking section.
How to verify. Monthly, compare Ads conversions to booked jobs from ads-attributed calls.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. In three months, nobody remembers why the schedule shrank. The log turns account history into learning.
How to verify. A shared doc or the notes feature in Google Ads. Date, change, reason.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Search partners, broad match, DSA, AI Max, LSA. One at a time, isolated, measured against the stable core.
How to verify. Calendar it. One experiment per quarter with a written success threshold.
Dead features and risky tactics: verify or remove
Section 10 · 16 checksHalf the call ads advice online was written for a Google that no longer exists. Each item here still circulates in guides and old SOPs. Check your own setup and your agency's playbook against it.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The format is being retired: creation ended February 2026, serving ends February 2027. Any SOP that starts with create a call-only campaign is describing the past.
How to verify. Replace with responsive search ads plus call assets, per the migration section.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Removed July 31, 2024, along with profile chat. Guides still tell people to enable it.
How to verify. Call detail now lives in Google Ads call reporting or a third-party call tracker.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Also removed July 31, 2024. If chat matters for your leads, it has to live on your own site now.
How to verify. Use a website chat or SMS tool you control, and track it as a conversion.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Google shut those one-page sites in March 2024. Old links redirected only until mid 2024.
How to verify. Point the profile and your ads at a page on a domain you own.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. The campaign type was absorbed into Performance Max in 2022. Screenshots of it date a guide instantly.
How to verify. For store goals, that is Performance Max now. For call control, standard Search.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Google announced in 2024 that Smart campaign functionality is folding into Performance Max. They also hide search terms and negatives from you, which this checklist depends on.
How to verify. Standard Search campaigns for control. Treat any remaining Smart campaigns as legacy to migrate.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Removed between October 2024 and March 2025. Campaigns still set to it were moved to Manual CPC.
How to verify. Choose between Manual, Maximize clicks with a cap, and conversion-based strategies, per the bidding section.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Creation ended June 2022. Existing ETAs still serve but cannot be edited, and every fresh build is RSA.
How to verify. Audit old ad groups for ETA-only coverage and add RSAs.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. BMM was folded into phrase match in 2021. Plus signs in a keyword list mark an account nobody has touched in years.
How to verify. Rebuild those keywords as phrase or exact, deliberately.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Google removed the setting from Search in late 2025 and detects language automatically.
How to verify. Nothing to configure. If a checklist tells you to set it, the checklist is old.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Against Google's policy and a common suspension trigger. It also still gets recommended in local SEO groups weekly.
How to verify. Real business name only. Put services in the services section, where they belong.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Google policy prohibits it, and in the US the FTC's rule on consumer reviews, 16 CFR Part 465, in effect since October 21, 2024, bans review suppression practices, with civil penalties per violation.
How to verify. Ask every customer the same way. Handle unhappy ones as service issues, not review risks.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Same FTC rule in the US; in the UK, fake reviews are a banned practice under the DMCC Act 2024. Our ecommerce CRO checklist covers the ecommerce side of these rules.
How to verify. Zero purchased or traded reviews. Remove any incentive tied to a positive rating specifically.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Recording laws are regional: several US states and many countries require all-party consent. A tracking platform's record button does not make it legal.
How to verify. Enable recording only with a consent announcement, or where one-party consent clearly applies to all callers you serve.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. A staple of old GMB courses with no documented ranking effect. The time is better spent taking more real photos.
How to verify. Skip the EXIF ritual. Upload real, recent photos instead.
Why it matters and how to verify
Why it matters. Quality Score is a per-keyword diagnostic, not a target. Accounts contort themselves for the number while calls stay flat.
How to verify. Use it to spot mismatches between keyword, ad, and page. Then look back at cost per called lead, the number that pays you.
Facts block
| Resource | Google Call Ads Checklist |
|---|---|
| Format | Free interactive page, no sign-up. Optional Google Sheet copy unlocked with your email |
| Checks | 121, graded Critical, High, Standard, with source tags |
| Covers | Call tracking, the call-only ads retirement (February 2026 to February 2027), migration to RSAs with call assets, Google Business Profile, campaign settings, launch QA, weekly management |
| Time needed | 60 to 90 minutes for the setup sections, then 20 to 30 minutes a week |
| Sources | Google Ads and Business Profile documentation, Google Ads policies, US and UK consumer law, Just Lead Market client accounts |
| Cost | Free |
| Publisher | Just Lead Market, justleadmarket.com |
| Last updated | 2026-07-07 |
How this checklist was built
Dated claims trace to the platform, not to us. Checks tagged Field come from Google Ads accounts we manage; where something is our practice rather than Google's requirement, the tag says so.
- Google Ads Help: Transition from call ads to call assets. The retirement timeline and the migration steps in Section 2.
- Google Ads Help: Action required, transition from call ads. The October 3, 2025 announcement.
- Google Business Profile Help. Changes to chat and call history, removed July 31, 2024.
- Google Ads policies. Phone numbers in ad text, number verification, and Business Profile name rules.
- US Federal Trade Commission. Rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, 16 CFR Part 465, in effect since October 21, 2024.
- UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Lists fake reviews as a banned practice.
- Just Lead Market client accounts. Checks tagged Field come from Google Ads accounts we manage. We do not attach numbers to them because we will not publish metrics we cannot show you.
Last updated: 7 July 2026. Version 1.0. Platform features change; this page carries the current version.
Want this done for you? Our Google Ads management covers call campaigns and this migration. The landing page checks in Section 6 pair with our free ecommerce CRO checklist, which goes deeper on page speed and the consumer law side. Or start with a free audit: we run this exact list against your account and send back what to fix, in order. Client work lives in the case studies.
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