Google Makes Local Inventory Ads Default for All Shopping Campaigns Aug. 31

Google confirmed on the Google Ads Developer Blog that Local Inventory Ads will be switched on by default for every Shopping campaign starting August 31. Until now, advertisers had to explicitly set the enable_local field to true in a campaign's ShoppingSetting to serve local products. After August 31, that field will be ignored entirely and treated as true, meaning any workflow built around keeping local and online inventory separate needs to be updated before the deadline.

What happened

Detail	Fact
Effective date	August 31
Affected campaign type	Shopping campaigns only
Field being deprecated	Campaign.ShoppingSetting.enable_local
API version that returns an error	Google Ads API v25.1 or later
Error returned (v25.1+)	ContextError.OPERATION_NOT_PERMITTED_FOR_CONTEXT
API versions below v25.1	Code keeps working, but disable attempts are silently ignored

Google announced the change on the Google Ads Developer Blog after notifying advertisers the previous week. Starting August 31, the “Local products” setting in every Shopping campaign will be permanently on. The enable_local flag that advertisers previously set to true or false will stop having any effect, and Google will treat it as true no matter what value is submitted.

The move brings Shopping campaigns in line with Performance Max for Retail, where Local Inventory Ads are already on by default. Performance Max, Demand Gen, and other campaign types that use the enable_local field are not affected by this change.

What breaks for developers

If your integration targets Google Ads API v25.1 or later and you are still sending enable_local = false, you will start receiving a ContextError.OPERATION_NOT_PERMITTED_FOR_CONTEXT error. Stop sending that parameter now, before August 31.

For earlier API versions, the code will not throw an error. Google will simply ignore the disable instruction and serve local inventory anyway. That silent failure is arguably more dangerous because nothing in your logs will flag the change.

How do you keep local and online inventory separate after August 31?

Google is not removing control entirely. It is moving that control to inventory filtering. Two options are available:

1. Create a listing scope using CampaignCriterionService with product_channel set to ONLINE. This restricts the campaign to online products only.
2. Use the Inventory filter inside Google Ads campaign settings to exclude local inventory, and set separate budgets for online and local products.

Neither option is a direct one-to-one replacement for the old field. Both require deliberate setup work, and if you manage multiple Shopping campaigns, you will need to apply the filter or listing scope to each one individually before the deadline.

Why it matters

Retailers who run Shopping campaigns without physical store locations, or who deliberately budget separately for in-store and online sales, are most exposed here. If you do nothing, local inventory will start appearing in campaigns where it was previously excluded, which can affect your cost-per-click, your conversion data, and your budget pacing.

The alignment with Performance Max for Retail also signals where Google is heading: a unified, always-on local inventory experience across its ad formats. Giving advertisers a simple off switch runs counter to that direction, so this change is unlikely to be reversed.

If you run Google Ads campaigns for clients with both physical and online presence, this is worth auditing now. A campaign that quietly starts serving local products can skew your attribution reporting just as much as it affects spend.

Our take

This is a quiet but meaningful forced migration. Google is framing it as alignment and simplification, but for any advertiser who was intentionally separating local and online inventory, it is a breaking change with a firm deadline. The fact that pre-v25.1 API versions will fail silently is the detail most likely to cause real damage: campaigns will behave differently with no error to catch.

The replacement options, listing scopes and inventory filters, do work, but they require more setup than flipping a single field. If you have a workflow automation that manages campaign settings programmatically, test it against the new behavior before August 31, not after.

Our honest advice: pull a list of every Shopping campaign that currently has enable_local set to false, decide whether each one should serve local products, and apply the appropriate inventory filter or listing scope this week. Do not wait until late August.

What to do about it

1. Audit all Shopping campaigns and identify any that have enable_local set to false today.
2. Decide, per campaign, whether local inventory should serve or be excluded.
3. For campaigns that should remain online-only, add a listing scope via CampaignCriterionService with product_channel = ONLINE, or apply the Inventory filter in Google Ads settings.
4. Update any API integration running on v25.1 or later to stop sending enable_local = false before August 31.
5. For integrations on earlier API versions, add a note or alert to your monitoring: the field will be silently ignored, so do not rely on it for campaign logic.
6. Verify budget splits between local and online campaigns reflect the new serving behavior after the change takes effect.

Get your Shopping campaigns audited and your inventory filters in place before August 31 or expect local products to appear where you did not intend them.

Source: Search Engine Land