Google turns search into a shopping checkout

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Google is pushing deeper into ecommerce with native checkout across Search, Gemini and YouTube, a move that challenges Amazon’s grip on product discovery and retail media by keeping shoppers inside Google’s ecosystem until purchase.

Announced at Google Marketing Live on May 20, the rollout expands Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol, or UCP, and adds AI-powered ad formats in AI Mode. Shoppers will be able to buy from eligible retailers through Google Pay, while merchants remain the seller of record. Google said checkout features will appear with retailers including Nike, Sephora, Target, Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Wayfair and Shopify merchants.

The timing matters because search is shifting from links to answers, and now from answers to transactions. For brands, the battle is no longer only about ranking on Google. It is about being selected by an AI shopping assistant, explained by Gemini and converted before the user leaves the page.

Google is also testing AI ad “explainers” that use Gemini to summarize why a product may fit a shopper’s query. “Our Gemini model evaluates and synthesizes information about a product or service, and displays that context alongside the advertiser’s creative,” Google said.

The company cited a Google-commissioned Ipsos survey of 13,189 online shoppers, which found 75% of people reported making faster, more confident decisions using AI Mode in Search.

For retailers, the upside is lower friction and fewer abandoned carts. The risk is dependence on Google’s AI surfaces for discovery, pricing visibility and conversion. Amazon built its ad machine on the purchase journey. Google is now trying to own more of that journey before the shopper ever reaches a marketplace.