Google is consolidating how Local Inventory Ads are controlled in eligible Standard Shopping campaigns. The practical issue is not merely that a setting is moving: local inventory may become active by default where the linked Merchant Center account has the relevant add-on enabled.
Advertisers should use the change as a prompt to verify which inventory each campaign can serve, especially when online and in-store products have separate budgets or strategies.
What Google is changing in Shopping campaigns
According to Search Engine Land, Google notified advertisers that Local Inventory Ads will be enabled by default beginning Aug. 31 for Shopping campaigns connected to Merchant Center accounts with the Local Inventory Ads add-on enabled.
Google is also removing the legacy “Local products” control found under Other settings. Campaign-level management will shift to the Inventory filter, where an advertiser can select Channel = Local or Channel = Online.
The reported rationale is simplification. The old arrangement included overlapping controls for local inventory, while the revised setup places channel selection in one filtering mechanism.
Why a default change can affect campaign planning
A default determines what happens when an eligible campaign is left without an explicit restriction. That makes this update particularly relevant to advertisers who have intentionally divided online and store inventory into different campaigns.
If those boundaries are reflected only in the setting Google plans to remove, the campaign may no longer behave as intended after the transition. The concern is operational: inventory eligibility and budget allocation can become misaligned even when product data and campaign structure remain otherwise unchanged.
This does not mean every Shopping advertiser needs to redesign an account. The reported change applies to eligible campaigns associated with Merchant Center accounts that have the Local Inventory Ads add-on enabled. Accounts outside that description are not identified in the source as affected.
Key takeaways
- Local Inventory Ads are set to become the default for eligible Shopping campaigns beginning Aug. 31.
- The existing “Local products” option under Other settings will be removed.
- Local and online inventory will instead be controlled through the Inventory filter.
- Advertisers separating store and ecommerce budgets should confirm that each campaign uses the intended channel filter.
A focused campaign review before the transition
The most useful review starts with scope. Advertisers can identify Standard Shopping campaigns linked to Merchant Center accounts where the Local Inventory Ads add-on is active, then determine whether those campaigns are intended to advertise store inventory, online inventory or both.
For campaigns meant to remain channel-specific, the Inventory filter should express that choice directly: Channel = Local for local inventory or Channel = Online for ecommerce inventory. This is especially important when separate campaigns carry separate budgets, because an unintended expansion of eligible inventory could blur the purpose of that structure.
Advertisers should also document the intended role of each affected campaign before making changes. A simple record of campaign purpose, budget ownership and selected channel can make later troubleshooting easier without introducing assumptions about performance.
What is known, and what still requires account-level verification
Search Engine Land attributes the initial public identification of the update to PPC specialist Arpan Banerjee, who shared a notification email sent to affected Google Ads manager accounts on LinkedIn. The available report establishes the new default, the removal of the old setting and the replacement filter options.
It does not provide account-specific forecasts or performance outcomes. Advertisers therefore should not assume the update will help or hurt results on its own. Its significance depends on existing campaign structure and whether local and online inventory are supposed to share targeting and budget.
The durable approach is to make channel intent explicit in the Inventory filter. That leaves less room for a platform default to determine how a carefully separated retail strategy operates.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
