Google removes call tracking from Business Profiles: What you can do now

Google recently made the decision to remove call tracking from Google Business Profiles (GBP), leaving businesses and marketers without a key feature to track and report on calls generated through these listings.

This change is significant for many marketers who relied on Google’s native call tracking to gain insights into their local search performance. However, with Mediahawk’s call tracking platform you can still accurately track calls and capture valuable data.

What Google’s change means for your business

For businesses that depend heavily on phone leads—such as care homes, automotive dealerships, healthcare practices, legal and financial services providers, or tradespeople—the removal of call tracking from Google Business Profiles could initially seem like a blow. Phone calls are one of the most valuable lead sources, especially when people are looking for services in real-time, such as plumbers or a care home.

With Google’s decision to remove this feature, marketers will lose visibility into a critical component of their customer journey, risking lost leads or inefficient spending on marketing campaigns.

The importance of tracking calls from Google Business Profile

64% of users use Google Business Profile to find contact details for a business. This highlights the importance of making sure that you have up-to-date details on your Google Business Profile, and that the information is trackable so that you are attributing data correctly. The information that you populate your Business Profile with powers Google’s Search and Mapping functions, as well as the voice assistant.

Fortunately, Mediahawk’s powerful call tracking software enables you to continue tracking calls. Using Mediahawk, you can assign unique static phone numbers to your Google Business Profile listings. This means that whenever someone makes a call from your GBP, the call will be automatically logged, tracked, and accurately attributed. You should also place UTM (urchin tracking montor) tags on your website link, so that you can also track clicks (and subsequent phone calls) from your profile.

Key features of Mediahawk’s call tracking software

Mediahawk has an industry-leading integration directly into Google Business Profile, allowing you to easily add tracking numbers and keep your information up-to-date and tracked, essential for understanding where your enquiries are coming from.

• Static phone numbers: Place unique phone numbers on each of your GBP listings so that you can identify exactly which profile is generating enquiries.
• Dynamic number insertion: Used on your website to automatically assign a unique phone number to every single visitor to your website, enabling you to track and attribute enquiries and sales across all your digital marketing activities.
• Detailed call data: Capture caller insights, such as phone number, call duration, geographic location, keywords used, web page they called from, comprehensive visitor history, and much more
• Speech Analytics: AI-powered Speech Insights instantly analyses phone conversations to determine whether a call resulted in a sale or appointment.
• Real-time reporting: Access call data and reports in real-time and gain instant visibility into the performance of your marketing efforts. Monitoring performance in real-time enables you to quickly adapt to changes in the market and ensure you don’t miss out on opportunities.

The importance of call tracking for marketers

With Google removing call tracking from GBP, it’s more important than ever to maintain visibility into how this channel – alongside all other marketing channels – is driving your most valuable leads. Without accurate call tracking, you risk wasting time and money on ineffective campaigns or missing out on key insights that could help optimise your marketing strategy.

Mediahawk integrates with your existing marketing technology platforms, such as Google Analytics or your customer relationship management (CRM) systems. This enables you to measure the true impact of your entire marketing performance – including your GBP listings – and optimise your strategy accordingly.