A lead form asset is a Google Ads feature that attaches a short enquiry form to your ad, so someone can send their name, email, phone number and answers to a few questions without leaving Google. It was previously called a lead form extension. The person taps the ad’s form option, the form opens over the results or the video, and their details are sent to you.
How lead form assets work
You build the form inside Google Ads: a headline, a short description, the fields you need and up to a handful of qualifying questions, such as “Which service are you interested in?” or “When do you want the work done?”. Google pre-fills contact fields from the person’s Google account where it can, which is what makes the form quick to complete on a phone. A link to your privacy policy is mandatory, and you write a short message that people see after submitting.
You can choose a form optimised for more submissions or one aimed at more qualified leads, which adds a review step before sending. Leads can be downloaded from the asset report, but Google only keeps them available for a limited period, so most advertisers connect a webhook or a CRM integration to receive each lead as it arrives.
At the time of writing (October 2026), availability depends on the campaign type and on your account meeting Google’s eligibility rules, including a good policy record. Some sensitive sectors cannot use it at all, so check what your account offers before planning around it.
Why it matters
On a phone, filling in a pre-filled form is easier than loading a website and finding a contact page. For businesses whose website is slow or awkward on mobile, such as a tradesperson in Kent or a training provider in Birmingham, a lead form can bring in enquiries that would otherwise be lost.
The trade-off is quality. Because the form is so easy, more people submit casually or by mistake, and some leave numbers they never answer. Lead forms also collect personal data, so UK GDPR applies in full. You need a lawful basis for processing the details, a privacy notice that explains what you do with them, sensible retention, and, under PECR, consent before sending marketing emails or texts unless the narrow soft opt-in for people who enquired about similar products genuinely applies.
Common mistakes
- Relying on manual CSV downloads and losing leads once they are no longer available.
- Leaving leads unanswered for a day or more; people who submit forms expect a quick reply.
- Linking to a generic or out-of-date privacy policy that does not cover lead form data.
- Adding a pre-ticked marketing consent box, which is not valid consent under UK GDPR.
- Counting every submission as a conversion without checking which leads became customers.
How to act on it
Before switching a lead form on, decide who will receive leads, how fast they will respond and where the data will be stored. Connect the form to your CRM or email through a webhook or integration and test it with a real submission. Write one or two qualifying questions that filter out poor fits, and make the privacy policy link point to a notice that actually mentions Google Ads enquiries.
Then feed outcomes back into Google Ads. Import qualified leads and sales as offline conversions so bidding learns which submissions turn into business, and compare cost per qualified lead with your website form. Lead form setup, tracking and compliance checks are part of my monthly PPC management.