Spotted by The Next Web, Google made an update in its AdWords rules stating that businesses are no longer allowed to include their phone number in the advertisement’s text starting next month, although instead of doing like this way, the advertisers now have to use the call extension feature. So, starting from April 2013, Google will not approve ads which use phone numbers in their ad text before the March 2013 policy change.
Here is what the announcement is:
In the next few weeks, we will no longer allow phone numbers to be used in the ad text of new ads. Advertisers who would still like to promote phone numbers in their AdWords advertising can use the call extensions feature. We’re posting this alert now to provide adequate lead time to make ad changes.
In April 2013, we will begin to disapprove ads that were using phone numbers in their ad text before the March 2013 policy change.
We are making this change to foster a safer, more consistent user experience across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
After the new policy goes into effect, the relevance, clarity, and accuracy page will be updated to reflect this change.
