The best ad – from the perspective of both users and advertisers – is often something that will immediately let the two sides connect.  Google’s taken an intelligent step forward, then, by allowing businesses to include clickable phone numbers in their mobile ads.

This should save people who want to call companies a fair amount of time they might otherwise have to spend navigating a site.  It’ll also spare some smartphone owners the slight embarrassment of having to copy down a phone number on paper while using their multi-hundred dollar devices.

Google’s thought of one other way to make things easy on consumers, too.  A post on the Google Mobile Blog explained, "[T]he ads and phone numbers you see are based on your location.  So, if a store or restaurant has multiple locations, you’ll be calling the nearest one, and not making reservations in some other city."

Finally, let’s not forget that advertisers should appreciate this new option.  According to Google, participants in beta trial saw improved click-through rates and a more or less overall boom in business.