One of the most common use cases for using Jet Interactive call tracking services is to use a tracking number as your Google Ads call asset or extension.

In this article:

• Why use Jet vs Google Call Forwarding?
• How to use tracking numbers with Google Ads
• Setting up your ad call tracking
  • Create your call asset/extension
  • Use your call asset/extension
• FAQ & Troubleshooting

Why use Jet vs Google Call Forwarding?

As a part of the Google Ads call asset or extension setup, Google gives you the option to enable "call metrics", which promises to use a unique Google forwarding number to track the phone calls made from your Ad. But what they do not tell you is that the number they provide you is not your number.

Yes, it's unique, and yes, it counts the calls made while active on your account, but there is no quarantine period between users, which means a customer calling you today from that number may call it again tomorrow and be directed to a different business - less a call tracking service and more call forwarding.
Because Google immediately recycles the numbers it uses for these campaigns, this means you may lose valuable repeat customers that press redial or even clients that have saved the number for future use.

This service also does not offer any additional reporting features on the call, such as call recording, call wrap up or even the caller ID. Also, unless they have come directly through the Ad itself, Google has no visibility of the phone conversions generated through other sources, or customers that have clicked through the add onto your web page that Jet will collect as a CPC call conversion using our Dynamic Session tracking.

How to use tracking numbers with Google Ads

To ensure the number being used is 100% owned by your business. You can allocate your Jet tracking numbers at an Account, Campaign or even Ad level to collect specific data on how many calls are being generated from your ads, and when you pair this with your session tracking numbers on the website, you can collect data on how many callers are making a call directly from the ad, versus callers who click through to your website before picking up the phone.

Setting up your ad call tracking

Create your call asset/extension

You can set up your call tracking via Google Ads as a Call Asset or via Search Ads 360 as a Call Extension.

Click here to view setup instructions via Google Ads

When you come to step 6 of entering your phone number, use the Jet Interactive service chosen for your ad. 

This will then display your Jet phone number as the call asset/extension for all ads you use this asset on.

Click here to view setup instructions via Search Ads 360

When you enter the call extension properties in step 4, use the Jet Interactive service chosen for your ad, and ensure that Call Tracked is not enabled (this will duplicate your reports in Google).

This will then display your Jet phone number as the call asset/extension for all ads you use this asset on.

Use your call asset/extension

Once you have created your asset, you can add this to any campaign or ad group.

Please follow the below instructions from Google tp finalise your setup:

https://support.google.com/searchads/answer/6155953?hl=en&ref_topic=6105990

FAQ

• How should I set up my tracking numbers?
• Can I use my call assets on more than one ad?
• My phone number is disapproved by Google
• How can I recognise my campaign information?

How should I set up my tracking numbers?

Depending on your data needs, you can use your Jet numbers at the ad, campaign or account level. You can also use multiple numbers to A/B test ads or campaigns as needed, and use your Jet reports to judge the effectiveness of your engagement.

Can I use my call assets on more than one ad?

Yes! 

You can apply up to 20 call assets per campaign or ad group and use these at your discretion.

We recommend you decide on your tracking approach of Ad vs Campaign vs Account ahead of time, to ensure you can scale your data needs up or down as required.

My phone number is disapproved by Google

Occasionally, Google Ads will disapprove a number that you have nominated as your Call Extension.

There are many reasons they provide for this, but the most common Google gives is the number was denied due to it being a different number than is listed on the website. 

In actuality, no consistent reason behind this error. Sometimes if you try your approval again in a few hours, this will be approved without issue. Sometimes numbers that have been approved as a call extension for many years can be suddenly disapproved with no warning.

If possible, another solution can be placing the number somewhere in your website code and hiding this from public view (eg: comment it out in your code). This will mean the number will be visible in your code when Google looks at the site, but won't be visible from the view of the human eye on your page.

More information from Google can be found here

How can I recognise my campaign information?

If you are wanting to see your campaign information into your Jet reports, you will need to add ValueTrack to your GAds account.

Follow the steps here: How to Add Value Track for Google Ads

To recognise campaign and keyword data from other sources using your dynamic tracking services, please ensure you are using utm tagging for this purpose.

Follow the steps here: Recognising keywords & campaign data