Search traffic produces the most valuable inbound calls in performance marketing for one reason: the caller is already looking for help. Someone typing "final expense insurance quote" or "emergency AC repair near me" has a problem and wants it solved now. Google Ads lets you put a phone number in front of that person at the exact moment of intent. The catch is that search clicks are expensive, so the margin between profit and loss comes down to campaign structure, call tracking and discipline.
What changed: call-only ads are going away
For years, pay-per-call publishers relied on call-only ads — an ad whose only action was dialing a number. Google has stopped allowing new call-only ads to be created (from February 2026) and existing ones stop serving in February 2027. The replacement is a responsive search ad (RSA) with a call asset. The searcher still sees a tappable call button on mobile, but the ad also has headlines, descriptions and a landing page.
In practice this means two things for publishers:
- You now need a real, compliant landing page for every call campaign. Some users will click instead of calling, and the page must convert those clicks into calls.
- Your call tracking must count calls from the ad and calls from the landing page, otherwise you will under-report conversions and Google's bidding will starve the campaign.
Campaign structure that works for calls
Keep the account simple enough that each campaign gets enough data to optimise:
- One campaign per vertical and geography. Do not mix Medicare and ACA in one campaign — the buyers, hours and payouts are different.
- Ad groups by intent theme, not by individual keyword. "Quote" intent, "near me" intent and "plan comparison" intent usually behave differently.
- Call assets at campaign level with the tracking number assigned to that campaign, so every call is attributed correctly.
- Ad schedule matched to buyer hours. If your buyer takes calls 9am–8pm Eastern, a call at 10pm earns nothing. Schedule both the campaign and the call asset to the buyer's open hours, with a small buffer at closing time.
Keywords and negatives
High-intent phrases include a product plus an action: "quote", "cost", "sign up", "near me", "best plan", "phone number". Informational terms ("what is", "definition", "jobs", "salary", "free PDF") rarely produce billable calls and should go into your negative list on day one. Read the search terms report every few days in the first month — it is where most budget leaks are found.
See our guide on keyword research for pay per call for a full negative keyword starter list.
Bidding: give the algorithm the right signal
Smart bidding is only as good as the conversion you feed it. If you count every call as a conversion, Google will find you cheap, short calls that never pass the buyer's buffer. Instead:
- Import billable calls only as the primary conversion, using your call tracking platform's Google Ads integration. A "billable" call is one that passed the buyer's duration buffer and qualifiers.
- Start with Maximize Conversions or manual CPC until you have 30+ billable calls a month per campaign, then move to Target CPA set at or slightly above your current cost per billable call.
- Assign a conversion value equal to the payout when you run several campaigns with different payouts, and use Target ROAS once the data is stable.
Know your numbers before you spend
Pay-per-call economics are simple arithmetic. If a campaign pays $50 per billable call and 40% of your calls become billable, each call is worth $20. If 15% of clicks become calls, each click is worth $3. Bid above $3 and you lose money. Our break-even CPC guide walks through the full calculation.
Compliance on Google
Google restricts ads in insurance, healthcare, financial services and legal. Expect to need advertiser verification and, for some categories, certification. Your ad copy and landing page must not impersonate a government agency, promise "free" money or benefits, or claim to be the carrier itself unless you are. Medicare-related calls carry additional CMS rules for third-party marketers — see our Medicare AEP playbook.
A launch checklist
- Confirm payout, buffer, hours, states and duplicate window with your buyer or network.
- Build a fast, compliant landing page with the tracking number above the fold.
- Set up call tracking with a unique number per campaign and import billable calls to Google Ads.
- Launch with 20–40 tightly themed keywords plus a full negative list.
- Review search terms, call recordings and billable rate every few days for the first two weeks.
- Scale budget in steps of 20–30% only when cost per billable call is under target for a full week.
BFOUNT runs pay-per-call campaigns across Medicare, ACA, final expense, auto, home and home services with published buffers and hours. Apply as a publisher to see live payouts and get tracking numbers.