Google Sells Itself As A Commerce 'Matchmaker,' Not A Retailer

As AI agents become more synonymous with product discovery, Google is selling itself as a critical partner for brands to show up in recommendations. In January, Google announced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) as a global shopping protocol that can work with AI agents and powers native checkout within Google's properties. Google is increasingly interweaving commerce features into its services—to the point where consumers may not need to visit retailers' individual websites. However, retailers are responsible for core ecommerce functions like fulfilling orders. This month, Google officially launched Universal Cart in the U.S. on the Gemini app and in Google Search. Universal Cart acts as a single shopping cart that works across multiple merchants and Google surfaces, as ADWEEK previously reported. Rather than pitching itself as a marketplace where people shop, Google is emphasizing its role in matching customers with brands and products for their specific needs. “Google's role is really to play the matchmaker in this environment," Marco Delaroche, a retail and commerce sales leader at Google who works with large agencies, said during an agentic commerce event hosted by WPP Enterprise Solutions on Oct. 22. "We're not taking the place of the retailer itself." Delaroche's presentation focused on how AI agents reshape discovery and what that means for brands looking to ensure they are visible to prospective customers. “Right now, agentic experiences and shopping are powering a relatively small percentage of the actual purchases users are making, but we expect that to dramatically accelerate over the coming years," Delaroche said. “We expect these agentic AI experiences to become an increasingly prominent part of user-buying journeys," he added. "But ultimately, there is a bit of time to test, to adapt, to see what is going to work best for your brand, what is going to make you visible to the agent, to ultimately, enter that consideration set for the user and hopefully become their ultimate purchase decision.” People are increasingly engaging with Google's AI Mode and AI Overviews because the tools help them become more confident and make faster purchasing decisions, according to Delaroche. “People are able to have these long, detailed, even initial searches, and then engage in a conversation as they go—that's leading to users feeling more decisive," Delaroche said. "If you can be in the discovery set for that agent, you can very quickly become the purchase decision for the user.” Brands need to ensure the agent has the information that they need to be matched to this specific search, he added. That centers on the Google Shopping Graph, which powers native checkout and the universal cart in Google’s services. The Shopping Graph includes more than 50 billion products from sources such as websites and Google merchant feeds. “This is where that information about the product, about your specific skin moisturizing cream, is going to enter into the agent's consideration," Delaroche said, speaking about a hypothetical skin care brand. Delaroche added that the Shopping Graph can see details from brands itself plus product reviews and information about the particular person making the search. A conversational shopping future Brands need to anticipate the type of questions users might ask when considering their products, Delaroche said. Delaroche said Google's ad targeting products including Performance Max and AI Max for Search will become essential tools for brands to meet users based on need rather than through generic keywords. He added that it's important for brands to make sure that information like price and availability is visible, as well as even deeper attributes like the kind of material for an apparel product. “If that information is not available on an advertiser's website or feed, all of a sudden, for my particular query, you might not be entering that essential consideration set of the AI agent, and thus, the users think they're not seeing you or deeming that another product is more appropriate” Delaroche said consumers expect AI agents to narrow down their options. For example, someone may search for “Which face cream is best for sensitive skin that's also prone to redness and dehydration?” and be provided three options that meet their needs. “That user certainly may come in with existing brand preferences, but ultimately, there's going to be a very high likelihood that they're going to go with one of these three products,” Delaroche said, adding that short list is becoming the shelf in the era of agentic commerce. "Ultimately, a user is going to choose one of those items from the shelf, and that is going to be the product that they select.” Google is allowing brands to track their visibility in AI tools through a new insights feature that rolled out this year. The feature includes data on popular product specifications users search for—and which products miss these attributes—as well as how often brands appear in Google Search and Gemini. “The window to become agent-ready is right now," Delaroche said. "Make these optimizations ahead of time because this is going to be the future, and it's going to be the future coming very, very soon.”

Ecommerce News

Google Sells Itself As A Commerce 'Matchmaker,' Not A Retailer

The search giant wants to control how people discover new brands

UNLOCK FULL ACCESS

Mitchell Parton

Commerce

Walmart Embraces AI Agents That Shop on Behalf of Customers

Kohl’s Brings Back Ellie Kemper for Holiday Ad Campaign

Target Ditches ‘Hot Santa’ for D’Arcy Carden in First Holiday Campaign Under New CEO

Best Buy and IGN Pair Up Ahead Of Major Game Releases

Target Cautiously Considers Placing Digital Screens for Ads in Stores

How Grocery Chain 99 Ranch Market Is Expanding Amid a Growth in Asian Cuisine

Target Is Pitching an Ad Metric to Drive Sales, But Most Brands Aren't Fully On Board, Exec Says

Square's First Standalone Kiosk Features An AI Ordering Assistant

Rethinking Retail Media’s Role in the Marketing Mix