What Local Inventory Ads are, how they bridge online search and in-store footfall, the store feed requirements, and how Google verifies local inventory before showing these ads.
Local Inventory Ads are one of the most underused features in Google Shopping — and one of the most powerful for retailers with physical stores. I've set them up for electronics and fashion clients who had previously only run standard Shopping campaigns, and the ability to show in-store availability to nearby searchers consistently improved store footfall and reduced the "I'll buy it online" drop-off. The exam tests LIAs because they represent Google's omnichannel retail strategy. Here's what you need to know for the exam and for real implementation.
Correct answer: B. Local Inventory Ads show products available in a nearby physical store to users searching on Google, displaying in-store availability and the store location — whereas standard Shopping ads direct users to an online product page
When a user clicks a Local Inventory Ad, they're taken to a Google-hosted Local Storefront page — or the retailer's own landing page — showing the product's in-store availability, price, store hours, and directions. The intent is to bridge online search behaviour with in-store purchase intent. For retail clients with high-footfall stores in competitive categories, LIAs are one of the most direct paths from a Google search to an in-store sale that the platform offers.
Correct answer: B. A local product inventory feed that specifies per-store availability, price, and quantity for each product at each store location
In addition to the standard product feed, LIAs require a local inventory feed submitted through Merchant Center. This feed maps each product (by item ID) to each store location (by store code), with availability status (in stock, out of stock, limited availability) and local price if it differs from the online price. The more frequently this feed is updated — ideally daily — the more accurate the in-store availability data is, and the more trustworthy the LIAs are to users. Showing a product as "in stock" when it's actually sold out is a quick way to erode customer trust.
Correct answer: B. A Google-hosted landing page that shows the product's local availability, store details, hours, and directions when a user clicks a Local Inventory Ad — used when the retailer doesn't have their own store-specific landing page
Google automatically creates a Local Storefront page from your Merchant Center data and Google Business Profile information — product image, price, availability, store address, hours, and a "Get directions" link. Retailers who want a fully branded experience can use their own store-specific landing pages instead (called "Merchant-hosted local storefronts"), which gives them more control but requires additional implementation. For most clients I start with the Google-hosted version because it's faster to launch and still converts well.
Correct answer: B. A verified Google Business Profile for each store location, a local product inventory feed, and participation in the Local Inventory Ads programme enabled in Merchant Center
Setting up LIAs requires three things working together: a verified Google Business Profile for each physical location (so Google knows where the stores are), a local inventory feed mapping product availability per store, and the Local Inventory Ads feature enabled in your Merchant Center account settings. Missing any one of these prevents LIAs from serving. I also recommend enabling store visit conversions in Google Ads to measure how many ad clicks translate into actual in-store visits — it's the closest proxy to measuring the offline impact of Shopping activity.
Correct answer: B. Google shows LIAs to users who are located near the store or have expressed local intent in their search, matching the searched product against available in-store inventory at nearby locations
Google uses a combination of the user's current location (from device GPS or IP) and their search query intent (e.g. "buy Nike shoes near me") to determine LIA eligibility. The ad only shows if the searched product is marked as available in a nearby store in the local inventory feed. This makes feed accuracy critical — a stale feed showing products as in-stock when they're sold out damages the user experience and wastes ad spend on clicks that lead to disappointed customers arriving at an empty shelf.
Running standard Shopping campaigns for a business with physical stores but not using Local Inventory Ads? You're missing a direct connection between your Google Ads spend and in-store footfall.
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