Are your ads working harder? Understanding Google’s new location conversions
If you’ve logged into your Google Ads platform recently and noticed some new conversion actions popping up, you’re not alone. Google has been busy introducing “Google-hosted” conversions that trigger automatically when you have location assets (formerly known as location extensions) active on your account.
At Dental Design, we’re all about transparency, so we wanted to break down what these are, why they matter for your practice, and why we’re being a bit picky about which ones we actually report on.
What are location assets?
Think of a location asset as your practice’s “digital signpost.” When someone searches for a “dentist near me” or “Invisalign treatment,” these assets allow your ad to show your physical address, your distance from the user, and your phone number.
Why they’re a must-have for dentists:
- Google Maps Visibility: They allow your practice to appear directly in Google Maps searches.
- SERP Real Estate: On mobile devices, these assets make your ad physically larger, pushing competitors further down the screen and giving users more ways to connect with you.
- Local Trust: Seeing a local address immediately builds more trust with a patient than a generic text ad.
The New “Google-Hosted” Conversions
Because these interactions happen on Google’s own platform (like Maps or the Search results page) rather than your website, Google now tracks them automatically. You’ll see new names in your conversion list like:
- Clicks to Call: When someone taps the phone icon on your business listing.
- Directions: When a potential patient clicks to see the route to your surgery.
These are great metrics. They show high-intent patients who are ready to book or walk through your doors.
Why we’re filtering the noise
However, Google has also added a catch-all category called “Other Engagement.” This includes things like someone “saving” your location for later or “sharing” the business listing.
While it’s nice to know people are looking, these “other” actions don’t usually result in an immediate new patient enquiry. If we include them in your main reports, they can artificially “inflate” your conversion numbers, making it look like your ads are performing better than the actual booking data suggests.
Our Policy:
To keep your data clean and actionable, we will not be including Google’s local hosted conversions in our standard reports by default. We want to focus on the numbers that actually grow your practice – contact forms, calls and online booking clicks.
Want the full picture?
We know every practice is different. If you’re a data enthusiast and want to see every single interaction – included all Google hosted conversions, we can certainly make that happen.
If you’d like to learn more about these new metrics or would prefer to see them included in your monthly report, just get in touch with your account manager. We’re happy to tailor your reporting to give you exactly the level of detail you need.
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