Google introduces AI shopping features in Search and Gemini to monetize AI infrastructure

Google Pushes AI Shopping Features in Search and Gemini Chatbot

Google is adding a way for consumers to buy things while seeking artificial intelligence-powered answers on search and in its Gemini chatbot -- part of a plan to make money more directly from consumers' AI use. The Alphabet Inc. company has been testing new ad formats on Google Search's AI Mode that will allow retailers and other advertisers to offer products there, the company said in a letter to the advertising community on Wednesday. Users can also now buy items from Etsy and Wayfair within Gemini, the company said. A new feature called Direct Offers within AI Mode will allow brands to offer discounts to potential shoppers. "We aren't just bringing ads to AI experiences in Search; we are reinventing what an ad is," said Vidhya Srinivasan, the Google vice president overseeing ads and commerce. Now that consumers have gotten in the habit of using AI, tech companies are working to make money from the chats, beyond selling subscriptions. Ads and commerce will help fund the billions in capital AI companies plan to spend on infrastructure. Spending by Google, Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. is slated to reach a record $650 billion in 2026. OpenAI recently started testing ads in its ChatGPT chatbot in the US, betting that advertising is the fastest way to make money off users that won't buy premium subscriptions. The ChatGPT maker and rival Perplexity AI Inc. have also introduced AI features designed to change how people shop online. At the start of this year, Google began to integrate AI agents into its shopping experience, with a new method that standardizes payments and digital identity, Srinivasan said. The company partnered with business including Shopify Inc., Target Corp. and Walmart Inc. for this protocol that helps consumers do checkout directly in Google's AI products. This "is helping to lay the foundation for a future where all commercial experiences can be seamless and agentic," Srinivasan said, referring to the potential for an AI agent to do shopping on a users' behalf. Still, Google's move toward AI shopping has drawn scrutiny from Washington, with Senator Elizabeth Warren saying in a letter that she's concerned over consumer privacy and consumers being pushed toward higher spending. Google has previously said it prohibits merchants from showing higher prices on Google than what's on their website.

Google Weaves New Shopping Feature Into Search and Gemini | PYMNTS.com

The company has begun testing new ad formats on its search AI mode that lets retailers offer products there, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday (Feb. 11), citing a letter Google sent to the advertising community. According to the report, Google now also lets users purchase products from Etsy and Wayfair within Gemini, while a new feature called Direct Offers within AI Mode will let brands offer discounts to potential customers. "We aren't just bringing ads to AI experiences in Search; we are reinventing what an ad is," said Vidhya Srinivasan, the Google vice president overseeing ads and commerce. The report noted that tech companies are trying to make money from AI chats as consumers grow accustomed to the technology, with ads and commerce helping finance their multi-billion dollar AI infrastructure projects. This year, the report noted, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon are scheduled to spend a record $650 billion on these efforts. At the beginning of the year, Google began integrating AI agents into its shopping experience, with a new method that standardizes payments and digital identity, Srinivasan told Bloomberg. The company is also working with the likes of Walmart, Target and Shopify on a protocol that helps consumers check out directly in Google's AI products. This "is helping to lay the foundation for a future where all commercial experiences can be seamless and agentic," Srinivasan said, in reference to the potential for an artificial intelligence (AI) agent to do shopping on a customer's behalf. Google is making this effort at a time when more than 70% of consumers say they would use AI agents for shopping, as PYMNTS Intelligence research has shown. "From Assistive to Agentic AI: Consumers Wade Into Autonomous Commerce," the January installment of the Agentic AI Report Series, shows that consumers are increasingly comfortable in letting AI act on their behalf, to a point. "The headline finding is not adoption alone. It is a conditional adoption. Consumers want agentic AI to reduce friction in daily life, manage complexity and handle recurring decisions," PYMNTS wrote Wednesday. However, that same report noted that as "AI systems move closer to payments, consumer confidence shifts away from novelty and toward familiar financial guardrails."