Google has expanded its mobile click-to-call option beyond search ads, letting advertisers include the call to action in ads that appear in mobile applications and sites via the Google Content Network.

Click to call has been especially successful because mobile search is growing rapidly. Each week, tens of millions of people search on Google from their mobile phones and generate hundreds of millions of searches.

?At Progressive, we're always looking for new and better ways to make car insurance easier for consumers,? said Alex Ho, director of emarketing at Progressive, Mayfield Village, OH. ?And we know more people are searching for insurance information on their mobile devices.

?With Google's click-to-call ads that combine search advertising with phone functionality, consumers can quickly and seamlessly engage with Progressive with less effort," he said.

Content with growth
Over the past couple of years, Google's mobile search volumes have grown more than fivefold. 

In the first three months of 2010, users of smartphones with full Internet browsers such as the iPhones, Android devices and Palm Pre searched 62 percent more than they did in the previous three months.

?Click to call for search on devices with full Internet browsers has been very successful,? said Surojit Chatterjee, senior product manager of mobile ads at Google, Mountain View, CA. ?Both national and local advertisers have seen great results from click to call.?

Advertisers need to make three selections within AdWords to use click to call for content and applications:

1. Opt-in to serve ads on the Google Content Network.

2. Enable phone extensions

3. Opt-in to showing ads on mobile phones full Internet browsers

?Click to call rocks,? said Jimmy John, founder of Jimmy John?s Gourmet Sandwiches. ?People who call Jimmy John?s are in a hurry and they want food fast.

?The click-to-call option enables my customers to get the number fast, get the call made fast, and get their sandwich order in fast and get the sandwich delivery even faster,? he said. ?Click to call is the best new tool we have used, use it, it works. Rock on Google.?

Animated interest
Expanding the popular click-to-call functionality on mobile search ads to now include mobile content and applications helps increase the reach of ads across the mobile Web and provides mobile publishers and developers with more ways to make money and grow their businesses.

With click to call, potential customers can connect with a business via a phone call when they use their favorite mobile applications or when they browse the Web from their mobile devices.

Ads will appear as animated banner or text ads with a call button on mobile devices with full Internet browsers. 

?We're excited about this launch because it adds to the increasingly wide variety of ways that developers can make money from their apps using Google ads,? Google?s Mr. Chatterjee said. ?We want to make it easy for app developers on all platforms to make money from their apps and grow their businesses.

?Phone calls are a natural and efficient way for consumers to connect with businesses from their mobile devices,? he said. ?Many businesses consider phone calls to be especially valuable leads as well.?