Google Implies Phone Number Formats Don't Matter

Jul 11, 2018 - 7:27 am 4 by

Google Phone Numbers

You've all seen it, how different web sites and email signatures format their phone numbers. Some do 212-555-5555, some do (212) 555-5555, some do 212.555.5555, some do 212 555 5555, some do 212_555_5555 and the most annoying do 2125555555 and other variations.

Someone asked Google's John Mueller if it matters and can Google pick it up? John basically said Google can figure it out. He said to require sites that they must use a single format would be "futile" and thus doesn't make sense. So I suspect Google can figure out many types of phone number formats based on your preferred style.

John responded on Twitter saying "I imagine it's futile for any directory to require phone numbers with specific separators."

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Google Search Volatility

More Details

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 10, 2026

Jul 10, 2026 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Search Breaks Usage Records, Social & Video Platforms Show In Search Console & More Google Ads, ChatGPT Ads & More

Jul 10, 2026 - 8:01 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Now Show AI Creation/Edited Labels

Jul 10, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Ads

Google Automatically Assigns Product Categories With Evolving Taxonomy

Jul 10, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Hack: Google AI Performance Reports For Platform Properties

Jul 10, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: Canonicalization Issues May Take Up To Two Weeks To Resolve

Jul 10, 2026 - 7:21 am
 
Previous Story: SEOs & Webmasters Visit John Mueller At Google Zurich