Click-to-Call advertising being tested by Google

Click to call advertising is being tested by Google. There’s already a Google Click-To-Call FAQ on the Google site.

We’re testing a new product that gives you a free and fast way to speak directly to the advertiser you found on a Google search results page – over the phone.

Here’s how it works: When you click the phone icon, you can enter your phone number. Once you click ‘Connect For Free,’ Google calls the number you provided. When you pick up, you hear ringing on the other end as Google connects you to the other party.

We won’t share your telephone number with anyone, including the advertiser. When you’re connected with the advertiser, your number is blocked so the advertiser can’t see it. In addition, we’ll delete the number from our servers after a short period of time.

Gary Price, my source for this post, writes at SearchEngineWatch “If you wondered when Google might begin offering pay-per-call ads, or at least click-to-call, it looks like the time is now.”

For law firms and professional service businesses, click to call could present some excellent advertising buys – especially for the first movers. Can you hear the sucking noise at Martindale-Hubbell and FindLaw? That’s Google sucking law firms into more effective marketing approaches.