1. What Google Is Switching Off and When
The deprecation is set out in Google's own help pages and names two dates. In February 2026, every way of creating a new call-only ad was removed — since then the format can only be managed, no longer set up. The second step follows in February 2027: all existing call-only ads stop receiving impressions. They do not disappear from the account; they are simply no longer served. As of September 2026, this is the announced sequence.
The two dates of the deprecation and the intended successor.
As the replacement, Google names responsive search ads with call assets. That is not a casual suggestion but the only intended successor: the help page on call assets expressly describes the format as the follow-on and advises bringing the switch forward rather than waiting for the deadline. A call asset is added to the responsive search ad through the additional asset types, and the business name must be stored in the account or in the campaign. The phone numbers are added as assets.
Those affected are above all the businesses the format was built for. ppc.land names local service providers, healthcare providers, law firms and emergency services as the groups facing the greatest migration effort — everywhere an enquiry begins on the phone and not in a form. For an account that consists of a handful of call-only ads, February 2027 is not a detail in the change log but the end of the only running channel.
2. How This Differs From the End of Dynamic Search Ads
A second format ends in the same month, and the two are easily lumped together. Dynamic Search Ads concern the question of where the ad takes its search terms and headlines from — there, one automation is replaced by another, and the rebuild takes place at the level of campaign control. If you do nothing, you lose reach there, but the basic framework of ad, landing page and conversion remains in place.
With call-only it is different, because here it is not the control that changes but the action. The format had exactly one: the call. The successor has two, the website visit and the call, and has to serve both. That is why changing a setting is not enough — there have to be ad texts, a landing page and a measurement set-up that may never have existed in the call-only account. Anyone who wants to deal with both endings in a single step is underestimating the second.
3. What Is Lost in the Switch
The most striking loss is the lack of ambiguity. A call-only ad was served only where a call was possible, and every click was an attempted call. A responsive search ad with a call asset is served everywhere, and the user chooses between website and phone. Some of the enquiries that used to end up on the line now end up on the page — and if the page is not built for that, the enquiry is gone without it showing up in the call figures.
The second loss is the simplicity of the ad itself. Call-only consisted of a few fields that could be written in one sitting. A responsive search ad takes up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, from which Google assembles the combinations. That is more work before launch and less control afterwards, because the actual ad only comes into being in the auction.
What changes when switching to the responsive search ad with a call asset.
The third loss is time. According to ppc.land, individual assets need more than 500 impressions to leave the learning phase, and a complete ad around 2,000 impressions in the "Google Search: Top" segment within 30 days. For a small local account with modest search volumes, that is not a figure you reach in a weekend. This is the real argument for not scheduling the rebuild for January 2027.
4. What the Switch Delivers
The gain lies in reach. An ad that offers only a call shuts out everyone who does not want to or cannot make a phone call at that moment — and in many industries that is more people than you would think. With a second route, this demand stays in the account instead of going to a competitor who offers both.
The second gain is a more complete picture. As long as call-only was the only channel, there was no telling how many prospects would have preferred to read before calling. After the switch, both routes sit side by side in the same account and can be held up against each other. That is not a prettier figure, but a more honest one.
The third point is more sober: the new format is being developed further, call-only no longer is. Anyone sitting on a deprecated format today gets no new features, no new reports and no attention from support. That alone is not a reason to switch, but it is a reason not to put it off.
5. What to Watch Out For in Measurement
The break in the figures is the part that causes the most confusion later. With call-only, click and call coincided; the number of clicks was the number of calls. After the switch, these are two different things: clicks include website visits, and calls are one part of them. Anyone comparing the months before and after the rebuild directly sees a slump in calls and a rise in clicks, and has misread both.
From this follows the most important preparation: the call has to be counted as a conversion in its own right before the old ad is switched off. As long as the call is not a measured conversion, bidding has no goal to work towards after the switch and optimises for what it can see — clicks to the website. This order matters more than the deadline: measure first, then switch, not the other way round.
Finally, it is worth looking at the landing page that nobody needed before. If some users arrive there in future, it decides whether anything comes of the enquiry. A visible phone number that can be dialled on the phone and a short form are enough in most cases — more is rarely the right answer at this point.
6. Checklist
- Go through the account and list all running call-only ads with their campaigns and phone numbers.
- Check whether calls are already counted as a conversion in the account; if not, set that up first.
- Define a landing page for every affected campaign, with the phone number and the enquiry route at the top.
- Write headlines and descriptions for the responsive search ads, within the limit of up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions.
- Store the business name in the account or in the campaign and add the phone numbers as call assets.
- Launch the new ads alongside the existing call-only ads, not as a replacement on the same day.
- Wait for a learning phase with enough impressions before judging performance.
- Only then pause the call-only ads and mark the comparison period in the reports.
7. Conclusion
This deprecation is no drama, but neither is it the one-liner it appears as in many news items. The February 2027 deadline is a long way off; the work before it is not. Anyone who has no call measurement and no usable landing page today is not rebuilding one ad but introducing two new things. Precisely this part is underestimated, because it does not show up in the account as an open task.
One qualification belongs here: for accounts that already have responsive search ads with call assets running, the matter is settled in an hour and the excitement is overdone. And whether the switch brings more or fewer enquiries on balance cannot be said in advance — more reach combined with a less clear-cut action can swing in either direction. My recommendation would be to do the rebuild in autumn 2026, while the old ad is still running alongside as a comparison, rather than in January 2027 under deadline pressure.
8. Frequently Asked Questions
Do the old ads disappear from the account?
According to Google, all existing call-only ads will stop receiving impressions from February 2027. What is described is the end of serving, not a deletion. What happens to the historical data in the reports is not clear from the information available.
Can a new call-only ad still be created?
No. Since February 2026, every way of creating a new call-only ad has been removed. Existing ads can still be managed until serving ends.
Is this the same as the end of Dynamic Search Ads?
No, even though both fall in the same month. Dynamic Search Ads concern the automatic generation of ads from website content; call-only concerns the ad format with the call as its only action. The rebuild is a different one in each case, and anyone who deals with only one of them has not dealt with the other.
What is the difference between a call-only ad and a call asset?
With call-only, the entire ad was geared to the call; there was no other route. A call asset is an addition to a responsive search ad: the user can call through it instead of visiting the website, but the website remains the second route. The ad thereby loses its lack of ambiguity and gains reach.
How much lead time does the rebuild need?
That depends on the campaign's search volume. According to ppc.land, individual assets need more than 500 impressions for the learning phase to end, and a complete ad around 2,000 impressions in the "Google Search: Top" segment in 30 days. In a small local account, you should expect months rather than weeks for this.
Does call measurement have to be in place before the switch?
Yes, that is the sensible order. Without counted calls, bidding optimises for what it can measure, and after the switch that means website clicks. Retrofitting the measurement while the new ad is already running costs a second learning phase on top.
