We’ve recently noticed a trend across multiple Google Ads accounts: searches for other brands’ phone numbers are increasing.
This means users are searching for phone numbers connected to other companies, brands, or competitors, and those searches may be triggering ads in accounts where they do not belong.
For advertisers, this is important because phone number searches are usually highly specific. When someone searches for another brand’s phone number, they are likely trying to contact that specific company — not discover a different business.
If those searches trigger ads, they can create wasted spend, irrelevant clicks, and lower-quality traffic.
Why This Matters for Law Firms
For law firms, wasted clicks can get expensive quickly.
Legal keywords are already competitive, and budgets need to be protected from searches that are unlikely to turn into qualified leads. If someone is searching for another company’s phone number, they are probably not looking to hire a law firm.
That means these searches can hurt performance by increasing spend without improving lead quality.
This can impact:
- Cost per lead
- Conversion rate
- Click quality
- Search term relevance
- Budget efficiency
Even small pockets of irrelevant traffic can add up over time, especially across multiple accounts.
Our Take
This is a good reminder that search term management is still one of the most important parts of paid search.
Automation, broad match, and changing search behavior can all cause ads to appear for queries that are not truly relevant. That does not always mean the campaign is broken, but it does mean the account needs regular cleanup.
The key question is:
Is this search likely to become a real lead for this client?
If the answer is no, it should probably be blocked.
In this case, searches tied to other brands’ phone numbers are not traffic we want to pay for.
What ADSQUIRE Is Doing
We added a negative keyword list across all accounts to help prevent ads from showing for these irrelevant phone number searches.
Search Term Review
- Reviewing search terms for unrelated brand and phone number queries
● Identifying patterns across multiple accounts
● Watching for customer service and support-style searches
● Flagging terms that do not match client intent
Negative Keyword Management
- Adding irrelevant phone number terms to a shared negative list
● Applying the negative list across all relevant accounts
● Blocking other-brand phone number searches where appropriate
● Continuing to update the list as new patterns appear
Budget Protection
- Reducing spend on low-intent or wrong-business searches
● Keeping budgets focused on qualified prospects
● Improving traffic relevance
● Helping campaigns spend toward users who are more likely to convert
Bottom Line
Other brand phone number searches are trending up, and they can create wasted spend if they are not managed properly.
By adding a negative list across accounts, we’re helping block irrelevant traffic and keep campaigns focused on the searches that actually matter.
Not every click is worth paying for.
The goal is not just more traffic — it is the right traffic.
For law firms, that means protecting budget, improving search relevance, and making sure ad spend is focused on users who are actually looking for legal help.
