Ask most tradies where their best jobs come from and they’ll say the phone. Ask their Google Ads report and it’ll often say forms, or not much at all. Both can be true at once, because in New Zealand Google can’t see most of the calls its ads create.
This guide covers why, what Google can and can’t count for each way a customer gets in touch, and how third-party call tracking closes the gap. If you’ve been told your ads aren’t working but the phone has been busy, start here.
The short answer
Probably not all of them. Google’s forwarding numbers, the feature that lets Google record calls made from your ads and your website, are available in about 30 countries. Australia is on Google’s list. New Zealand isn’t (checked 06/10/2026).
That’s worth knowing because even Google’s own AI answer gets it wrong. Search “google ads call tracking nz” and the summary at the top tells you NZ call tracking “uses Google Forwarding Numbers”. It doesn’t, because they aren’t offered here.
How a lead reaches you from an ad, and what Google can count
Here’s every way someone who saw your ad can get in touch, and what Google Ads can record for each in New Zealand without any extra tools:
| How they contact you | What Google can record in NZ |
|---|---|
| Tap the call button on your ad | A click on the call button. Not whether the call connected, how long it lasted or what it was about |
| Click your ad, then ring the number on your website from a laptop or landline | Nothing. Google’s website call tracking uses forwarding numbers too |
| Click your ad, then tap the phone number on your website on a mobile | A tap on the number, if your tracking is set up to count it. Not the call itself |
| Click your ad, write down your number, ring tomorrow | Nothing |
| Click your ad and fill in your enquiry form | The enquiry, if conversion tracking is set up properly |
So the one channel Google counts reliably is the form. For most trades, forms are the smaller share of good leads. A burst pipe rings. A homeowner with a quick question rings. A property manager with three jobs rings.
Why the undercount matters
Missing calls isn’t just a reporting annoyance. It changes decisions.
Google bids on what it can count. Most campaigns now use automated bidding that learns from conversions. If only forms count, Google learns to find form-fillers and quietly moves your budget away from the searches that make the phone ring, which are often your best ones.
You judge keywords on half the evidence. “Emergency plumber Napier” might be producing calls every week and look like it converts nothing. Pause it on the report’s advice and the phone goes quiet.
You might switch off ads that work. We meet tradies who stopped Google Ads because “it didn’t get any leads”, when their call log from the same months was full of new numbers.
The first check is free: compare your own count of enquiries with what Google reports. We walk through that in why your Google Ads get clicks but no calls.
The fix: third-party call tracking
Call tracking services do the job Google’s forwarding numbers do in other countries. The basic idea is simple: give each source of calls its own phone number, and log every call that comes through it.
Tracking numbers that ring through to you. You get local NZ numbers (an 06 number for a Hawke’s Bay business, say) that forward to your existing phone. You answer as normal. Your main number doesn’t change.
A tracking number on your ads. Your ad’s call button shows a tracking number, so every call from the ad is logged: when it came in, how long it lasted, and whether it was answered.
Swapping the number on your website. A small script on your site shows a different tracking number to visitors who arrived from an ad. This is called dynamic number insertion. Everyone else sees your normal number. When an ad visitor rings, the call is tied back to the click, and often to the keyword.
Reporting back to Google Ads. The service sends each qualifying call into Google Ads as a conversion. You choose what counts: most trades set a minimum call length, such as 60 seconds, so wrong numbers and sales calls don’t count. Google’s help page calls imported call conversions “the most precise way to measure which calls lead to sales”.
Once that’s running, Google bids on calls as well as forms, and your reports finally show the whole picture. We set this up for clients who want it, and we explain what to ask any agency about it in how to choose a Google Ads agency (question 5).
Doing it well
A few details decide whether call tracking helps or causes a mess.
- Use NZ numbers. Callers in New Zealand tend to be wary of unfamiliar prefixes. A tracking number should look local: a landline number for your region, or a mobile number if that’s what your customers expect.
- Keep your main number where it lives. Your van, your Google Business Profile, your quotes, your invoices and directory listings keep your normal number. Tracking numbers go on your ads and on your website for ad visitors. That keeps your business details consistent everywhere Google checks them.
- Tell callers if you record. Many call tracking services can record calls, which is handy for training and settling “who said what”. A short “calls may be recorded” message lets callers know. Recording is optional, and your lawyer can tell you what the privacy rules ask of your business.
- Check the cost against what you spend. Call tracking is usually a monthly fee plus a charge per number and per minute. It earns its keep once calls are a real share of your leads and your ad spend is big enough that one wrong budget decision costs more than the fee.
Going one step further: count the jobs you win
Counting calls is good. Counting the calls that became paid jobs is better.
Google Ads lets you import offline conversions: you tell it which enquiries turned into won work, and it learns which searches produce customers rather than just phone calls. For a trade business, that’s the difference between “this keyword gets calls” and “this keyword gets $8,000 bathroom jobs”. It takes a CRM that records where each lead came from and whether you won it.
A one-week check you can do now
You don’t need any software to see whether this affects you.
- For one week, jot down every new enquiry: calls from numbers you don’t know, forms, messages. Ask each caller how they found you.
- At the end of the week, open Google Ads and look at conversions for the same seven days.
- Compare. If you counted ten Google-sourced enquiries and the report shows three, you have a measurement gap, not an advertising problem.
While you’re at it, note how many calls you missed. Tracking the calls you don’t answer doesn’t help much: if the phone’s ringing out while you’re on the tools, who answers the phone covers the options, including an AI receptionist.
Google Ads call tracking FAQ
Can Google Ads track phone calls in New Zealand?
Partly. Without forwarding numbers, Google can count taps on the call button in your ad and taps on your phone number on your mobile website, if tracking is set up. It can’t see whether those calls connected or how long they lasted, and it can’t see calls to your website number from a laptop or landline. Third-party call tracking fills the gap.
Do I need a new phone number?
No. Tracking numbers forward to your existing number, so you answer every call the same way. Your main number stays on your van, your Google Business Profile and your paperwork.
Will customers notice the different number?
Not if it’s a local NZ number. Ad visitors see a tracking number that looks like any other local business number, and everyone else sees your normal one.
What should count as a conversion: every call, or only long ones?
Set a minimum length so wrong numbers, hang-ups and sales calls don’t count. Many trades use 60 seconds. If your genuine enquiries are often short (“Can you come Tuesday?”), go lower and check the call log for a few weeks.
Is it worth it for a small trade business?
If most of your good jobs come by phone and you’re spending a few hundred dollars or more a month on ads, usually yes, because the alternative is making budget decisions blind. If you spend very little, start with the one-week check above.
Want to know how many of your calls Google is missing? Get a free leads audit: 20 minutes, real numbers, no obligation.