If you’re running Google Ads for your towing company, there’s been a major change to the platform that you need to know about.

Google has discontinued call only campaigns, which were one of the most popular campaign types for towing companies to generate phone calls.

As of this year, you’re not going to be able to create new call only ads, and over the course of this year Google will stop showing existing call only ads as much until you can’t show them at all.

This is a big deal for towing companies because call only campaigns were specifically designed to drive phone calls, which is exactly what most towing businesses need.

But don’t worry, you can still run profitable Google Ads campaigns for your towing business. You just need to make some adjustments to how you’re running things.

Today I’m going to walk you through 5 tips to running profitable towing Google Ads campaigns now that call only ads are going away. These tips will help you transition to the new way of doing things while still generating quality phone calls for your business.

Why Google Discontinued Call Only Campaigns

Before we get into the tips, let me quickly explain what’s happening with call only campaigns.

Call only campaigns were a campaign type where your ads would only show on mobile devices, and instead of sending people to a website or landing page, the ad would just have a phone number that people could tap to call directly.

For towing companies, this was perfect. Someone searches “tow truck near me”, sees your ad, taps the phone number, and calls you immediately. Simple and effective.

Google has decided to discontinue this campaign type and push everyone toward responsive search ads instead. While this might seem frustrating at first, with the right setup you can still generate the same quality phone calls you were getting before.

Let’s get into how to do that.

1) Make The Switch Over To Responsive Search Ads

The first thing you need to do is make the switch over from call only campaigns to responsive search ads.

Responsive search ads are Google’s standard ad format where you can provide multiple headlines and descriptions, and Google will automatically test different combinations to see which ones perform best.

How To Set Up Responsive Search Ads

When you create a responsive search ad, Google gives you the option to add up to 15 different headlines and 4 different descriptions.

You want to fill out all of these.

Don’t just add 3 headlines and call it a day. Take the time to write out all 15 headlines and all 4 descriptions.

The more options you give Google to work with, the more combinations it can test, and the better your ads will perform over time.

What To Include In Your Headlines

For towing Google Ads, your headlines should include:

• Your service (towing, tow truck, roadside assistance)
• Your location (city name, “near me”)
• Your unique selling points (24/7 service, fast response, affordable rates)
• Calls to action (call now, get help fast)
• Trust builders (licensed, insured, family owned)

Here are some example headlines for a towing company in Seattle:

• “24/7 Towing Service in Seattle”
• “Fast Tow Truck Service Near You”
• “Seattle’s Most Trusted Towing Company”
• “Call Now For Immediate Towing Help”
• “Affordable Roadside Assistance”
• “Licensed & Insured Tow Truck Service”
• “Get A Tow Truck In 30 Minutes Or Less”
• “Emergency Towing Available Now”

Mix and match different angles to give Google plenty of options to test.

Run Split Tests

Even though Google will automatically test different combinations of your headlines and descriptions, you should also be running split tests with completely different ad variations.

Create at least 2 to 3 different responsive search ads in each ad group with different messaging approaches.

One ad might focus on speed and availability, another might focus on pricing and value, and another might focus on trust and reliability.

Let these ads run for a few weeks, see which one performs best, then pause the underperformers and create new variations to test.

This ongoing optimization process is how you continually improve your campaign performance over time.

2) Make Sure You’re Using All Assets (Especially Call and Location Assets)

Now that you’re running responsive search ads instead of call only ads, assets become incredibly important for generating phone calls.

Assets (previously called extensions) are additional pieces of information that can appear with your ads to make them more effective.

Call Assets Are Critical

The call asset is the most important asset for towing Google Ads campaigns.

A call asset adds a phone number to your ad that people can tap to call you directly from the search results, just like they could with call only ads.

When someone searches for towing on their phone and sees your ad, they’ll see your phone number right there. One tap and they’re calling you.

Without a call asset, people would have to click on your ad, go to your landing page, and then find your phone number to call. That’s extra friction that will reduce the number of calls you get.

Make sure you have a call asset set up on every campaign you’re running for your towing business.

Location Assets Help Too

The location asset is another important asset for towing companies.

A location asset syncs your Google Business Profile with your Google Ads account and shows your business location on your ads.

This helps in a few ways. First, it builds trust by showing people you’re a local business. Second, it can get your business showing up as a sponsored result in Google Maps, which can generate additional phone calls.

To set up a location asset, you’ll need to link your Google Business Profile to your Google Ads account. It’s a pretty simple process that just takes a few minutes.

Use Other Assets Too

Beyond call and location assets, you should also be using:

• Sitelink assets – Links to specific pages on your website or landing pages for different services
• Callout assets – Short phrases highlighting your benefits (24/7 Service, Fast Response, Affordable Rates)
• Structured snippet assets – Lists of services you offer (Towing, Jumpstarts, Tire Changes, Lockouts)

The more assets you have running, the more space your ad takes up on the search results page, which typically leads to better performance.

3) Make Sure You’re Only Running Mobile Traffic

This is a critical setting that a lot of towing companies overlook.

If you want to get phone calls from your towing Google Ads campaigns, you should turn off tablet and desktop traffic so that you’re running mobile only traffic.

Why Mobile Only?

Think about when someone needs a tow truck. They’re most likely on the side of the road with a broken down car, searching on their phone for help right now.

They’re not sitting at home on their desktop computer casually browsing for towing companies. They need help immediately, and they need to call someone.

Mobile traffic is where the highest intent leads are for towing companies.

On top of that, when you run mobile only traffic, you can drive people to a landing page that’s designed specifically for mobile devices and only has a phone call as the call to action.

This makes the conversion process much simpler. Someone searches, clicks your ad, lands on a mobile-optimized page with a big “Call Now” button, taps it, and calls you.

How To Turn Off Desktop and Tablet Traffic

To set your campaign to mobile only, go to your campaign settings and look for “Devices”.

Click on that and you’ll see options for mobile, tablet, and desktop.

Set your bid adjustment for tablets to -100% and your bid adjustment for desktop to -100%. This will turn off those devices and only show your ads on mobile.

Some people might argue that you’re missing out on potential leads by not targeting desktop and tablet, but in my experience with towing campaigns, mobile traffic is where all the quality leads come from.

Keep your campaign focused on mobile and you’ll get better results.

4) Run Traffic To Mobile Only Landing Pages

Now that call only campaigns are going away, you have to send people somewhere when they click on your ad.

This is where landing pages become critical.

Why You Need Landing Pages For Towing

In the past with call only campaigns, someone would just tap your phone number and call you. There was no landing page needed.

Now with responsive search ads, when someone clicks on your ad headline, they need to be taken to a page.

You could send them to your website, but websites typically don’t convert as well as dedicated landing pages.

Landing pages are specifically designed to do one thing: convert visitors into leads. In this case, we want to convert visitors into phone calls.

What Makes A Good Towing Landing Page

A good towing landing page for mobile traffic should include:

No Navigation Menu – Remove all distractions. No links to other pages, no menu to click around. The only action they can take is calling you.

Clear Headline – Tell them exactly what you do. “24/7 Emergency Towing Service in [City Name]”

Big Call Button – Make your phone number big and put it in a button that’s easy to tap on mobile. This should be at the top of the page and sticky so it follows them as they scroll.

Trust Elements – Include your Google reviews, any badges (BBB, licensed, insured), and photos of your tow trucks.

Service Information – Quick bullet points about what you offer (emergency towing, roadside assistance, jump starts, tire changes, etc.)

Another Call Button – Put another call button at the bottom of the page after your content.

The entire page should be focused on getting someone to pick up the phone and call you. Nothing else.

The Impact On Your Conversion Rate

Landing pages will dramatically improve your conversion rates compared to sending traffic to your website.

Most websites convert somewhere around 10% of traffic into leads. A well-designed mobile landing page can convert 20% to 30% or more.

Here’s how that impacts your numbers:

Sending Traffic To Your Website:

• 100 clicks at $5 per click = $500 spent
• 10% conversion rate = 10 calls
• Cost per call = $50

Sending Traffic To A Landing Page:

• 100 clicks at $5 per click = $500 spent
• 25% conversion rate = 25 calls
• Cost per call = $20

Just by using a landing page, you can potentially cut your cost per call by more than half while generating significantly more calls.

5) Use High Intent Keywords (Mostly Exact Match)

The final tip for running profitable Google Ads for towing is to use high intent keywords, and mostly stick to exact match keywords.

Why Exact Match Keywords Work Best For Towing

In my experience running towing campaigns, if you open things up too much to phrase match or broad match keywords, you end up getting a lot of irrelevant leads.

People calling for other towing companies, people calling about someone blocking their driveway, people looking for towing equipment, people looking for jobs – all kinds of irrelevant stuff.

Exact match keywords keep your traffic much more targeted and ensure you’re only showing up for people who are actually looking for a tow truck right now.

What Keywords Should You Use?

High intent keywords for towing include:

• [tow truck near me]
• [towing service near me]
• [emergency towing]
• [tow truck [city name]]
• [towing company near me]
• [24 hour towing]
• [roadside assistance near me]

Notice that these are all keywords where someone is actively looking for help right now. They’re not searching for information, they’re not comparison shopping, they need a tow truck.

Avoid Low Intent Keywords

Low intent keywords that you should avoid or be very careful with include:

• towing cost
• how much does a tow truck cost
• towing companies (without “near me” or a location)
• towing jobs
• towing equipment

These searches are from people who aren’t ready to hire a towing company right now. They’re doing research, looking for jobs, or looking for equipment.

Build A Solid Negative Keyword List

On top of using exact match keywords, you need to build a comprehensive negative keyword list.

Add negative keywords for things like:

• jobs
• careers
• hiring
• cost
• price
• equipment
• supplies
• for sale

Also add negative keywords for other towing company names in your area so you don’t waste money on people specifically searching for your competitors.

The combination of exact match keywords and a solid negative keyword list will keep your traffic as targeted as possible.

Adapting To The Changes

The discontinuation of call only campaigns might seem like a setback for towing companies, but with the right setup, you can still run highly profitable Google Ads campaigns.

The key is to adapt to the new way of doing things:

1. Switch to responsive search ads – Fill out all headlines and descriptions, run split tests
2. Use all assets – Especially call assets and location assets to drive phone calls
3. Run mobile only traffic – Turn off desktop and tablet to focus on high-intent mobile searches
4. Build mobile landing pages – Create focused, conversion-optimized pages to replace call only ads
5. Use exact match keywords – Keep traffic targeted with high intent exact match keywords and negative keywords

When you implement all five of these tips together, you create a campaign that generates quality phone calls at a profitable cost per call.

The transition from call only campaigns to this new setup might take a little work upfront, but once you have everything in place, you’ll have a reliable system for generating towing leads month after month.

Need Help With Towing Google Ads?

If you’re a towing company looking to set up or optimize your Google Ads campaigns, but you don’t have the time or expertise to do it yourself, I can help.

I specialize in running Google Ads campaigns for local service businesses, and I know exactly what it takes to generate quality phone calls without wasting your budget.

Click the button below to apply for a free consultation. I’ll review your application personally, and if I feel like I can help grow your towing business, I’ll reach out to schedule a call.

Thanks for reading!

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