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Google forces Local Inventory Ads on all Shopping campaigns August 31

July 22, 2026
5 min
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MT

CTO at Nova Analytics

LinkedIn

Matthieu oversees product development at Nova Analytics, creating innovative tools that help Amazon sellers make smarter, data-driven decisions to grow their business.

Quick Summary

  • •Google flips Local Inventory Ads on by default for all Shopping campaigns on August 31, 2026
  • •enable_local field deprecated; API writes of false will error in newer versions
  • •Aligns Shopping with Performance Max for Retail behavior
  • •Action: audit LIA feed freshness, remove enable_local overrides in scripts, watch impression share on branded terms in September

Nova surfaces every Amazon fee, refund, and margin shift in your live P&L, across 21 marketplaces. View it in Nova

What changes on August 31

Google confirmed via the Google Ads Developer Blog that starting August 31, 2026, all Shopping campaigns will serve Local Inventory Ads by default. The enable_local field on ShoppingSetting is effectively deprecated: the value is forced to true, and code in newer API versions that tries to write false will fail outright (PPC Land, July 20, 2026).

Performance Max for Retail already treats local serving as standard behavior. This change lines standard Shopping campaigns up with the same default. For advertisers who never touched the setting, nothing visibly breaks. For advertisers who explicitly turned local serving off, the opt-out disappears.

What it means if you sell on Amazon

Pure-play Amazon sellers with no physical retail footprint are not the direct target. If there is no Local Inventory Ads feed in Merchant Center, no local ad can serve regardless of the default. But the competitive picture on Google Shopping shifts. Any competitor of yours that also stocks at Walmart, Target, Home Depot, or through wholesale distribution to independent stores will start showing local pricing and same-day pickup on Shopping SERPs by default. Amazon shoppers who cross-check on Google now see a local-first result more often, not less.

Track this indirectly. Watch Google Shopping impression share on your branded terms and hero SKUs in early September against late August. A silent drop in impression share often lines up with a competitor turning on richer feed data, not with a price change on your side.

The checklist for hybrid sellers

  1. Audit your Local Inventory Ads feed in Merchant Center. Store availability, store-level prices, and store pickup data all need to be fresh going into August 31.
  2. Remove any enable_local: false overrides from Google Ads scripts, campaign templates and MCC automations before the switch. In newer API versions the write call errors out; in older versions it silently no-ops.
  3. Split reporting by fulfillment channel. When LIA impressions blend with online-only impressions, ROAS on the Shopping line hides which fulfillment path is actually earning the click. Separate the two before the change goes live.
  4. Do not double-count against Amazon net contribution. Google LIA sales are not Amazon sales. Keep those P&L lines separate in Nova Live P&L so channel-level margin decisions stay clean.

How Nova helps

  • Live P&L - keep Amazon net contribution isolated so a shift in Google Shopping mix in September does not distort what your Amazon business is actually earning at the ASIN level.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about this topic

Google is setting Shopping campaigns to serve Local Inventory Ads by default starting August 31, 2026. The enable_local field on ShoppingSetting is being deprecated in effect: the value is forced to true across campaigns, and code that tries to write false in newer API versions will fail. Performance Max for Retail already behaves this way; this change aligns standard Shopping campaigns with that model.
Only indirectly. Amazon sellers with no physical retail footprint do not run Local Inventory Ads feeds and cannot serve LIA even if the setting is on. What changes for you is competitive: Amazon brands that also run brick-and-mortar or wholesale distribution through big-box retailers will now show local pricing and pickup availability on Shopping results by default, giving them a shopper-facing edge you can't match through Amazon alone. Track whether Google Shopping impression share on your branded terms shifts in September.
If you sell on Amazon and also carry stock at physical retailers or your own DTC store, decide whether your product feed is ready to expose store-level inventory and prices. Check the Local Inventory Ads feed status in Merchant Center, confirm store availability data is fresh, and remove any manual enable_local: false overrides in your Google Ads scripts before August 31. If you don't run LIA, no code change is required, but expect the SERP mix to shift.

Verified Sources

All information verified from official Amazon sources and trusted industry analysts as of publication date.