How To Stop Google Ads Displaying A 0333 Number

To put call tracking in place on Google Ads, you need to give up displaying your actual phone number for an 0333 number. Here’s how to stop that happening if you run into problems.

The issue of Google Ads using a forwarding number to track phone calls from ads campaigns is a double edged sword. In order to train your Google Ads account you turn call reporting to ‘on’ for your phone number call extensions and phone call only ads campaigns. This helps Google Ads understand who clicks to call you in order to target more people like them. However in order to do this they stick your phone number through a call forwarding number in order to track the calls.

This can make your Google Ads look less ‘intimate’, less local or just like the phone number is hidden behind a call centre. We have also come across an issue where a local area code number is used but due to a lack of available numbers in the area, several businesses have been put through the same number, resulting in pizza requests of wedding company suppliers, and kitchen fitting requests of businesses that sell clothes.

There are many reasons why you might want to display your own telephone number instead and so this guide shows you how to reset this feature so that your own phone number displays instead.

So, in order to do this you have to turn off your call tracking.

This means you won’t be able to pull down reports on who called you and when and for how long (expressed in seconds), but your ads will display with your phone number instead of a call forwarding number. This is the choice you will have to make for yourself, weighing up knowing the information versus the need for your own number to be displayed.

To turn call reporting on and off, here is how you do it:

• In Google Ads, click ‘all campaigns’
• Then in the left hand column select ‘Settings’ and then ‘account settings’
• Where it says ‘call reporting’ you will see if it is turned on or off. Set this to whichever option you prefer and then click save.

If you change your mind, just reverse the process via the same steps outlined above. Simple!

Read more

We hope that this series of articles will save you hours of searching for how to deal with small tasks. Take a look at the other articles we’ve put together:

• How do you link your Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts together?
• How do you link your Google Analytics account to Google Ads?
• How do you import goals from Google Analytics to train your Google Ads account?
• How do you change the default currency in Google Analytics to GBP?
• What are store visits in Google Ads?
• How to add a Universal Analytics account to an established GA4 account
• How do you link Google Analytics and Google Search Console together?
• How do you check which Google Ads account is linked to your Google Analytics account?
  

As we work our way through small and always difficult to remember tasks at the coalface of marketing, we’re sure there will be additions to this list very soon, so maybe bookmark this page if you found it helpful.

Contact us

We’re Google Partners, so if you’d like help with Google Analytics, Google Ads, marketing data analysis or digital marketing strategy, please email us on info@destination-digital.co.uk or give us a call on 01629 810199.