In another significant new announcement from Google, their AdWords blog has revealed that they are starting to test phone call tracking for a limited number of accounts in the US. This has been one of the main gaps in tracking enquiry conversions from an AdWords campaign, but one that might soon help advertisers get a clearer picture of the real ROI (Return on Investment) from their advertising spend.

AdWords call metrics will use the technology behind Google Voice, so that each campaign will be assigned a unique phone number which is automatically inserted into the adverts on both desktop and high-end mobile devices (where the number is clickable, as now).

When a user calls the number shown in the ad, the call is automatically routed to the business, and AdWords notes that this call took place. This data will be shown within the AdWords reports, where the number of calls generated by each campaign will be displayed, alongside call duration, and caller area code. Advertisers will still only pay for clicks on their ads, but Google says that they also intend to charge for call metrics in the future.

This will undoubtedly be a significant improvement for advertisers and one that will hopefully be rolled out to all campaigns and countries soon.