Google's Call-Only Ads Are Deprecated. Here's Your RSA Migration Checklist.

Google removed the ability to create new call-only ads in February 2026. Existing ones stop serving in February 2027. If you run a phone-first service business and have not made the switch yet, here is exactly what to do.

Call-only ads were a staple for HVAC companies, plumbers, electricians, and emergency trade contractors. They showed up in Google Search with a phone number front and center — no landing page, just "tap to call." For businesses where the call is the conversion, they worked well. Google is phasing them out. The replacement is responsive search ads with call assets, and the migration is straightforward once you know the steps. If you do nothing before February 2027, your ads stop running quietly — no dramatic warning, just a drop in inbound calls.

What Happened and When

In early February 2026, Google removed the option to create new call-only ads from the Google Ads interface. Any call-only ads that were live at that point continue running until February 2027, when they stop receiving impressions entirely, according to PPC Land's reporting on the deprecation timeline.

Google documents the full upgrade path in the Google Ads Help Center transition guide. The replacement format is responsive search ads with call assets attached — functionally the same outcome (phone calls from search), different configuration inside Google Ads.

This is also happening alongside the Local Service Ads migration to Performance Max that started in August 2026 for home service businesses. If you run both LSAs and call-only ads, you have two Google Ads changes to handle before early 2027.

Why Call-Only Ads Worked (And Why Google Is Replacing Them)

Call-only ads removed friction. No click to a landing page, no waiting for a page to load, no decision about whether to fill out a form. The search intent was clear — "I need to call someone right now" — and the ad format matched it exactly. For emergency trades, that directness was worth real money.

Google is replacing them because responsive search ads with call assets accomplish the same thing while giving Google's AI more room to optimize. RSAs let the algorithm test combinations of headlines and descriptions to find what converts best. Adding a call asset gives users the option to call directly — same as a call-only ad — while also showing your ad across more query types than call-only ads reached.

The Google Ads Developer Blog published detailed upgrade instructions in October 2025 for agencies handling this migration at scale. The core finding: call performance transfers. The format does not.

Your Migration Checklist

Handle this in order:

1. Export your current call-only ad data first. Pull your campaign performance history — clicks, impressions, cost per call, conversion rate — before you change anything. Some historical reporting becomes harder to access after you modify campaigns. Store the exports outside your Google Ads account in a spreadsheet.
2. Create responsive search ads in each affected ad group. RSAs need 15 headlines and 4 descriptions. Use your best-performing call-only ad copy as your starting point. Include your main service (e.g., "Emergency AC Repair"), your location (e.g., "Phoenix and Scottsdale"), and a direct call to action ("Call Now — Same-Day Service").
3. Add call assets at the campaign or ad group level. Navigate to Assets then Call in Google Ads, add your phone number, and set call reporting to On. This is what lets Google track calls from your new RSAs the same way call-only ads tracked them.
4. Set your ad schedule. If your call-only ads ran only during business hours, replicate that schedule on the RSAs. Paying for clicks at 3am when no one answers the phone is money wasted.
5. Add your business name to your account settings. Google now requires a verified business name at the account level for call assets to show properly. If you have not set this up, the call asset will not display.

Our Google Ads management service handles this migration and ongoing bid management so your call volume does not drop during the transition. We track cost per call and cost per booked job — not just clicks.

What to Expect After Migration

Advertisers who migrated from call-only ads to RSAs with call assets early report an average of 7% more conversions at similar cost, according to Symphonic Digital's 2026 Google Ads playbook. The reason: RSAs surface across more query types than call-only ads did, capturing callers at slightly less urgent intent who still convert.

The first two to four weeks after migration are the learning period. Do not make major bid adjustments during this window. Google's Smart Bidding needs to collect data on the new format before it optimizes effectively. Watch cost per call during this period — that is the number that maps to your actual business outcome, not cost per click.

One thing to add to your answering setup: an AI voice receptionist that picks up calls generated by your Google Ads so you are not paying for calls that hit voicemail. Ad spend that generates a call you do not answer is money you spent and a customer you lost to the next result.

Multi-Service Businesses: Watch Your Target CPA Structure

If you run call-only campaigns for different service lines — say, one for HVAC and one for plumbing — be deliberate about how you structure the RSA migration. Google Ads does not support different Target CPA settings for different service categories within a single campaign.

If plumbing calls are worth $60 to acquire and HVAC calls are worth $90, combining both in one campaign tells the algorithm to chase a blended target. It will find the cheaper plumbing leads and under-invest in HVAC. Keep these as separate campaigns in your RSA structure, even though it means smaller data pools per campaign for the algorithm to learn from.

This is the same bidding issue affecting the LSA to Performance Max migration for multi-service businesses. Separate campaigns, separate budgets, separate bids — that structure preserves your ability to control lead economics by service line.

What Happens If You Do Nothing

Your call-only ads keep running until February 2027. After that, they stop. You will notice when inbound call volume drops while your Google Ads spend stays the same. By then you will be behind every competitor who migrated earlier and let their RSAs build conversion history over those months.

Do not wait for Google's notification. Set a calendar reminder and handle it now. The migration takes a few hours for most accounts. You can run the RSAs in parallel with your call-only ads through the end of 2026, confirm performance is solid, then let the old format expire on its own schedule.

If you want someone to look at your Google Ads account and tell you what needs to change — the call ads migration and everything else — book a free 24-hour audit. We will audit your current campaigns, flag what is not working, and tell you exactly what we would change and why.

Sources

• PPC Land — Google phases out call-only ads by February 2027
• Google Ads Help Center — How to transition from call ads to call assets
• Google Ads Developer Blog — Upgrade your Call-Only Ads to Responsive Search Ads (October 2025)
• Symphonic Digital — Google Ads Playbook for 2026