# We Checked 258 Home-Service Websites Running Google Ads. Here’s What Was Broken.

- Link: https://www.xmergesolutions.com/google-ads-call-tracking-study/
- Published: 2026-10-29T18:57:53+00:00
- Author: Burhan Abdul Basit

Between June and October 2026 we checked the websites of 258 small roofing and garage
door companies in 33 US states. Every one had Google Ads running when we found it.

We wanted to know one thing. When an ad brings a customer who calls or fills in 
a form, does Google Ads find out? That is the job of Google Ads call tracking and
conversion tracking, and for most of these businesses, the answer was “not fully”.

## The short version

What we found on 258 home-service websites

No way to count calls from the website**65%**

Half-finished tracking**51%**

Same kind of tag running twice**34%**

A click or page view counted as a lead**14%**

No tracking installed at all**14%**

Xmerge Solutions website checks, June–October 2026 · 258 sites in 33 US states ·
counted 21 Oct 2026

In total, 217 of the 258 sites (84%) had at least one of the three main problems
explained below, and 64 (25%) had two or three. A site can have more than one problem,
so the percentages add up to more than 100.

## Why this matters, even if your phone is ringing

Google Ads learns from what you count. Its automatic bidding spends more on the 
searches that bring conversions and less on the ones that don’t. When the counting
is wrong, it learns the wrong lesson:

 * **Calls not counted:** the searches that brought your best callers look like 
   they brought nothing.
 * **One lead counted twice:** a keyword looks twice as good as it is, and your 
   cost per lead looks half of what it really is.
 * **A page view counted as a lead:** Google is told to find more people who look,
   not more people who call.

You pay for every click either way.

## 1. 65% had no way to count calls from their website

For a roofer or a garage door company, the job usually starts with a phone call.
Yet on 168 of the 258 sites (65%), a call made from the website was invisible to
Google Ads. There was no call tracking number and no Google call conversion on the
page.

One limit: from outside, we can only see the website. A business can count calls
made straight from the ad inside its Google Ads account. But a customer who read
the website first and then called was not counted on these 168 sites.

**How to fix it** (Google’s guide: [About phone call conversion tracking](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6100664)):

 1. **Calls from the ad itself:** turn on call reporting and add a “Calls from ads”
    conversion. It covers call-only ads and call assets.
 2. **Calls from your website:** set up [calls to a phone number on your website](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6095883).
    Google shows a forwarding number to visitors who clicked an ad. It needs the Google
    tag on your site and works in a set list of countries.
 3. **Or use a call tracking tool** (CallRail, WhatConverts and others) that sends 
    your calls to Google Ads.
 4. **Set a minimum call length** that matches a real inquiry, for example 60 seconds.
    Then wrong numbers and hang-ups don’t count as leads.

Next step up: import the calls that became paying jobs from your CRM, so Google 
learns from sales, not just calls. See offline conversion tracking.

## 2. 34% had the same kind of tag running twice

On 88 sites (34%), tracking was loaded twice. We saw two Google Analytics tags or
two Google Ads tags loading on every page. This often happens when a tag is added
twice, for example by a plugin and again through Google Tag Manager. One inquiry
can then be counted twice.

Google then sees two leads where you got one. Your cost per lead looks better than
it is, and the keywords behind those leads get more budget than they earn.

**How to fix it:**

 1. Open your site with [Google Tag Assistant](https://tagassistant.google.com/) and
    see which tags fire. The same ID should never load twice.
 2. Add each tag one way only: through Google Tag Manager or through a plugin, not 
    both.
 3. In Google Ads, set each lead conversion to count **One** per ad click. Google suggests“
    One” for leads and “Every” for sales ([About conversion counting options](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/3438531)).

## 3. 14% counted a click or a page view as a lead

On 36 sites (14%), a lead was counted when nobody had sent anything. The conversion
fired when the contact page opened, or when someone pressed the send button, even
with the form left empty.

If that count reaches Google Ads, Google then hunts for more people who open your
contact page, not more people who contact you. Your report shows leads you never
received.

**How to fix it:**

 1. Count a form only when it is really sent: on the thank-you page, or on the form’s
    own “sent” event.
 2. Test it. Open your contact page, press send with the form empty, and check in Tag
    Assistant that nothing counted.
 3. Don’t treat a tap on your phone number as a call. For those taps, Google itself
    says “we can only track these clicks, not the phone calls themselves” ([source](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6100664)).
    Count real calls by call length instead (see problem 1).

## Two more things we found

 * **No tracking at all:** 36 sites (14%) were paying for ads with no tracking installed.
   There was no Google Ads conversion tag, no Google Analytics and no Google Tag
   Manager, so nothing on the website told Google which clicks turned into inquiries.
 * **Half-finished tracking:** 132 sites (51%) tracked only part of the way customers
   get in touch. Examples: Google Analytics installed with nothing set up for the
   contact form, a Google Ads tag with no conversions defined, or ads sending people
   to a quote or booking page on another domain with no tracking.

## Roofers and garage door companies look the same

The three main problems showed up at almost the same rates in both trades.

| Trade | Sites checked | No way to count website calls | Same kind of tag twice | Click or page view counted as a lead | 
| Roofing | 223 | 65% | 34% | 13% | 
| Garage door repair | 35 | 66% | 37% | 17% |

The garage door group is small (35 sites), so treat its figures as a first look.
More for each trade: [roofing](https://www.xmergesolutions.com/industries/roofing/)
and [garage door](https://www.xmergesolutions.com/industries/garage-door/).

## A 10-minute check you can do yourself

 1. **Compare the numbers.** Count the real inquiries you got last month, calls and
    forms. Then open Google Ads, click **Goals → Conversions → Summary**, and look 
    at the same month. About double your real number: probably a tag running twice (
    problem 2). Far more than you got: something other than a real inquiry is being
    counted (problem 3). Far fewer: calls or some forms are not being counted (problem
    1).
 2. **Look at the conversion list** on that page. Is there a conversion for phone calls?
    Is each lead conversion set to count “One”?
 3. **Check the website.** Open your homepage and contact page with [Google Tag Assistant](https://tagassistant.google.com/).
    The same ID should not load twice, and nothing should count as a conversion just
    because a page opened.
 4. **Ask whoever runs your ads:** “How do we count phone calls, and what is the minimum
    call length?” A clear, quick answer is a good sign.

Don’t click your own ads to test any of this. You pay for those clicks.

If you find conversions not showing in Google Ads at all, our guide to [the 7 most common causes](https://www.xmergesolutions.com/google-ads-conversions-not-showing/)
walks through each fix.

## How we checked

 * **Who:** small roofing and garage door repair companies whose ads had run in 
   the last 30 days, found through Google’s Ads Transparency Center. We left out
   franchises, national chains, companies with more than 5 locations, and roofers
   with more than 500 Google reviews (2,000 for garage door companies).
 * **What:** 258 different websites in 33 US states, each checked once between June
   and October 2026.
 * **How:** we opened each site in a normal browser and recorded every tracking 
   tag that fired. We checked whether a call tracking number replaced the business’s
   own number, what was sent to Google when the contact page opened, and what happened
   when the send button was pressed with the form left empty.
 * **What we did not do:** we never logged in to anyone’s accounts, and no test 
   inquiry reached any business.
 * **Limits:** we see the website, not the ad account. A business can count calls
   made straight from its ads inside Google Ads, and our check would not show that.
   The numbers were counted on 21 October 2026.

## Want us to check your site?

We’ll run the same check on your website for free and tell you what we find, in 
plain words. Send your website and email; no passwords needed. We reply within one
business day. [Get a free tracking check](https://www.xmergesolutions.com/free-check/)
or [book a short call](https://calendar.app.google/Ab9SgbHMtyFA5Qoi6). See our [Google Ads conversion tracking](https://www.xmergesolutions.com/services/google-ads-tracking/)
service.

## Questions owners ask us

Does Google Ads track phone calls on its own?

No. Calls from the ad itself are counted once you turn on call reporting and set
up a “Calls from ads” conversion. Calls from your website need a Google forwarding
number with the Google tag, or a call tracking tool ([Google’s guide](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6100664)).

Why does Google Ads show more leads than I really got?

Usually a tag is running twice, or a page view or a button press is counted as a
lead. Problems 2 and 3 above show how to check.

Why does Google Ads show fewer leads than I really got?

When Google Ads is not tracking conversions properly, it is usually because calls
are not tracked, or your form or booking tool sits on another site, such as a booking
page or CRM, with no tracking.

What should count as a lead in Google Ads?

A form that was really sent, a call longer than your minimum length, or a booked
appointment. Not a page view, and not a tap on a button.

_Written by [Burhan Abdul Basit](https://www.xmergesolutions.com/author/burhan-abdul-basit/),
co-founder of Xmerge Solutions. He has worked on Google Ads and conversion tracking
for small businesses for five years. Facts checked against Google’s help pages on
29 October 2026._