Call-Only Ads vs Call Extensions: Best for Local Biz

A roofing contractor in Orlando called me in a panic last spring. His Google Ads rep had mentioned something about call ads going away, and he had no idea what that meant for his business. About 70% of his leads came in through phone calls. If those dried up, he was in serious trouble. I told him to take a breath — and then I walked him through exactly what was changing and why it actually wasn’t the disaster he feared. That conversation is what inspired this post.

If you run a local service business — plumbing, HVAC, roofing, legal services, healthcare — and you’ve been running call-only ads on Google, you need to read this. Google is officially retiring the Call-Only Ad format, and the clock is ticking. But here’s the thing: this isn’t the end of phone leads. It’s actually an opportunity to do things better.

What Are Call-Only Ads (and Why Google Is Killing Them)

Call-Only Ads — now officially called Call Ads — were a Google Ads format designed exclusively to drive phone calls. Instead of sending someone to a landing page, clicking the ad immediately triggered a phone call. No website visit, no form fill, just a direct dial. For local service businesses, this felt like a dream.

The problem is that Google is moving on. New Call-Only Ad creation will be disabled in February 2026, and all existing Call-Only Ads will stop serving entirely by February 2027. Google’s reasoning is straightforward: Responsive Search Ads with call assets are simply more flexible, better optimized for mobile, and perform better across more contexts.

I get why this stings for some advertisers. Call-Only Ads had a beautiful simplicity to them. But the ad landscape has shifted dramatically toward mobile-first behavior, and a format locked into a single action couldn’t keep up.

Call Extensions vs. Call Assets: What’s Actually Changed

Before we go further, let me clear up a naming confusion I see constantly. What used to be called call extensions are now called call assets in Google Ads. Google rebranded extensions to assets in 2022 as part of a broader consolidation effort. Same functionality, new name — don’t let the terminology trip you up.

A call asset is a phone number you attach to a standard ad — typically a Responsive Search Ad — that appears as a clickable call button on mobile or a visible phone number on desktop. When someone searches “emergency plumber near me” on their phone, they see your ad with a big tap-to-call button right there. They don’t have to visit your site. They just call.

The key difference from the old Call-Only format is that RSAs with call assets give the user a choice: click through to your site or call directly. That flexibility turns out to matter more than most advertisers realize, and I’ll explain exactly why in the next section.

“Call assets were a big part of setting up an ad campaign correctly, especially for car dealers, local businesses, and anybody that wants phone calls. Migrating to RSAs immediately is the right move to sustain volume.”

— David, DDM Team (Automotive PPC Specialist)

Head-to-Head: Call-Only Ads vs. RSAs With Call Assets

Let me lay out the real differences between these two formats in a way that actually helps you make a decision — not just a list of features, but what each one means for your business.

Feature	Call-Only Ads	RSAs With Call Assets
Primary action	Phone call only	Call or website visit
Mobile optimization	Good	Excellent
Ad copy flexibility	Limited (fixed format)	High (up to 15 headlines, 4 descriptions)
Landing page required	No	Yes (strongly recommended)
Machine learning optimization	Minimal	Full Google AI optimization
Future availability	Retired Feb 2027	Active and supported
Ad scheduling for calls	Yes	Yes (via call asset settings)

The biggest practical advantage of RSAs with call assets is that Google’s machine learning engine can test headline and description combinations to find what drives calls for your specific audience. With Call-Only Ads, you were locked into a static format. That rigidity cost you performance over time.

The most important thing to understand is this: RSAs with call assets don’t reduce phone leads — they expand the paths that lead to a call. When agencies made the switch in early 2026, the consistent report was no drop in phone lead volume. In several cases I’ve seen, call volume actually increased because the ads were reaching broader intent signals.

The Angle Everyone Misses: Call Quality, Not Just Call Volume

Here’s where I want to go deeper than most articles on this topic. Every post I’ve read about the Call-Only Ads retirement focuses on how to maintain call volume. That’s important. But in my experience working with local service businesses, the bigger opportunity is improving call quality — and the transition to RSAs with call assets actually makes that easier.

Think about what happens with a Call-Only Ad. Someone sees your ad, taps, and calls. You have zero context about who they are or what they need before the phone rings. Your front desk picks up cold. There’s no pre-qualification happening.

With RSAs and a well-built landing page, you can pre-qualify intent before the call happens. Someone reads your page, sees your service area, understands your pricing range, and then taps to call. That caller is warmer, more informed, and more likely to convert. According to Invoca’s research, phone calls convert 30% faster and yield 28% higher average spend compared to web leads. But those numbers get even better when the caller has been pre-qualified by a landing page.

“Phone calls remain one of the most powerful conversion channels for local service businesses. The key is combining flexible RSA formats with strong call tracking to understand which calls actually turn into customers.”

— Red Sparrow Agency, PPC Strategy Team

I had a client — a behavioral health practice in Central Florida — who was running Call-Only Ads and getting 40-50 calls per week. Sounded great. But when we dug into the call recordings, about 60% of those calls were wrong numbers, people asking about insurance they didn’t accept, or completely unqualified inquiries. After we migrated to RSAs with a proper landing page that spelled out their services, accepted insurance, and service area, call volume dropped to 30 per week — but booked appointments went up. That’s the quality angle nobody talks about.

If you want to dig deeper into tracking what’s actually working in your Google Ads setup, my post on Google Ads Quality Score: How to Improve It and Why It Matters Less Than You Think covers how to evaluate performance beyond surface-level metrics.

Your Migration Plan Before February 2026

Let’s get practical. If you’re running Call-Only Ads right now, here’s exactly how I’d approach the migration. Don’t wait until January 2026 to start — you want time to test and optimize before the deadline forces your hand.

Audit your existing Call-Only campaigns. Export your current headlines, descriptions, and performance data. You’ll use this as your baseline and as raw material for your new RSA copy.
Build a lightweight landing page. It doesn’t need to be elaborate. A single page with your service, location, key differentiators, a prominent click-to-call button, and fast load times is enough. Google PageSpeed Insights is your friend here — aim for a mobile score above 85.
Create RSAs with call assets attached. Write 3-5 headlines that include your phone number or a strong call-to-action like “Call Now for a Free Quote.” Pin your most important headlines to position 1 so they always show.
Set call scheduling. In your call asset settings, restrict call display to your actual business hours. Nothing wastes ad spend faster than driving calls to a voicemail at 11pm.
Enable Google call reporting. Turn on call duration tracking and set a minimum call length (60-90 seconds is a reasonable threshold for a qualified lead) as your conversion event.
Run both in parallel for 4-6 weeks. Don’t pause your Call-Only Ads immediately. Let both formats run, compare call quality and conversion rates, then gradually shift budget to RSAs.

One more thing: if you haven’t already added negative keywords to your campaigns, now is the time. Irrelevant clicks on RSAs cost you money and dilute your call quality. My post on negative keywords as the most underused Google Ads strategy for small businesses walks through exactly how to build a negative keyword list that protects your budget.

Alternatives Worth Testing: LSAs and Performance Max

While you’re making this transition, it’s worth knowing about two other formats that are genuinely strong for local service businesses in 2026.

Local Services Ads (LSAs) are Google’s pay-per-lead format for service businesses like plumbers, electricians, HVAC contractors, lawyers, and healthcare providers. You pay per verified lead, not per click, and your ad shows at the very top of search results with a “Google Guaranteed” or “Google Screened” badge. For businesses where trust is a major conversion factor, that badge does real work. Google’s Local Services Ads platform is worth exploring if you haven’t already.

Performance Max campaigns use Google’s full AI automation to serve ads across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Maps with a single campaign. For multi-location service businesses, Performance Max can extend your reach significantly. The tradeoff is less granular control — you’re trusting Google’s algorithm more than with a traditional Search campaign. I’d recommend running it alongside your RSA campaigns rather than replacing them entirely until you have enough conversion data to trust the automation.

For a deeper look at how automation is reshaping Google Ads, check out my post on Google Ads AI Max replacing Dynamic Search Ads — the same shift toward machine learning that killed Call-Only Ads is accelerating across the entire platform.

Frequently Asked Questions

When exactly are Call-Only Ads being discontinued?

Google will disable the creation of new Call-Only Ads in February 2026. All existing Call-Only Ads will stop serving entirely by February 2027. You have time to migrate, but starting now gives you room to test and optimize.

Will I lose phone leads when I switch to RSAs with call assets?

Based on what agencies reported after early migrations in 2025-2026, no — phone lead volume held steady or improved when the transition was done correctly. The key is attaching call assets properly, writing strong call-focused headlines, and building a landing page that pre-qualifies visitors before they call.

Do I need a landing page for RSAs if I only want phone calls?

Technically no, but practically yes. A landing page pre-qualifies your callers, reduces wasted calls, and gives Google’s algorithm a signal about your business relevance. Even a simple one-page site dramatically improves call quality in my experience.

What’s the difference between a call asset and a call extension?

They’re the same thing with different names. Google rebranded all extensions to “assets” in 2022. If you set up call extensions before that change, they’re now displayed and managed as call assets in your Google Ads account.

Are Local Services Ads a replacement for Call-Only Ads?

They’re a complement, not a direct replacement. LSAs operate on a pay-per-lead model and only show for eligible service categories. RSAs with call assets give you more control over messaging, targeting, and bidding. Running both together is a strong strategy for most local service businesses.

Resources

The bottom line is this: the retirement of Call-Only Ads isn’t a crisis — it’s a nudge toward a better setup. RSAs with call assets give you more flexibility, better machine learning optimization, and a real opportunity to improve call quality, not just call volume. The businesses that treat this as a forced upgrade rather than a loss are going to come out ahead.

If you’re a local service business in Central Florida and you want help migrating your campaigns before the February 2026 deadline, reach out to Yellow Jack Media. We’ve been through this transition with clients across industries and we know exactly what works.