Google said it will roll out the protocol in AI Mode in Search and the Gemini apps, allowing U.S. shoppers to complete purchases while researching products. Transactions will use payment and shipping credentials stored in Google Wallet, with support for PayPal planned. The company described the move to simplify how merchants and AI agents connect, but it also pulls more of the buying process inside Google-controlled surfaces.
The announcement pushes Google beyond product discovery and closer to transaction ownership, a step it has historically approached cautiously.
From Routing Traffic to Completing Transactions
Google has spent years positioning itself as a gateway to commerce rather than the place where commerce happens. Even its earlier AI shopping features largely routed users into merchant checkout flows. The Universal Commerce Protocol changes that structure.
Rather than relying on one-off integrations between agents and merchants, the protocol defines a standard way for AI agents to handle product discovery, checkout and post-purchase support. Merchants can expose inventory, pricing and fulfillment logic through the protocol, allowing agents to complete purchases without redirecting users to external sites.
Google says the protocol works alongside its existing agent standards, including Agent2Agent and the Agent Payments Protocol. But unlike those efforts, which focused on communication and handoffs, UCP centers on transaction execution. The protocol treats checkout as a native function of AI systems rather than a destination owned by merchants.
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By embedding UCP directly into Search and Gemini, Google shortens the distance between intent and payment. The user no longer needs to leave Google’s interface to complete a purchase. That changes who controls the customer journey.
Protocols as Leverage
The move reflects a broader shift that payments and commerce executives have been watching closely. PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster has argued that as AI agents take on buying tasks, control moves away from storefronts and toward the protocols that govern how transactions occur. In that model, standards determine power.
UCP fits that framing. Protocols do not just enable transactions. They define defaults, determine what data gets surfaced to agents and shape how buying decisions get made. Merchants still set prices and fulfill orders, but they increasingly operate within rules defined elsewhere.
Google does not need to announce new fees or marketplace policies to benefit. By defining how agents transact, the company gains influence over visibility and execution without explicitly positioning itself as a marketplace operator. Payments reinforce that influence. By supporting Google Pay and PayPal, Google anchors transactions to wallets consumers already trust, reducing friction that would otherwise push users back to merchant sites.
For merchants, the tradeoff is reach versus control. A single integration can make products available to multiple AI agents, but it also shifts optimization away from storefront design and toward protocol compatibility.
A Quiet Standards Race
Google positions UCP as open and flexible, allowing merchants and agents to adopt only the extensions they need. Commerce platforms such as Shopify have endorsed the approach to help merchants participate in agent-driven commerce without rebuilding their stacks.
Still, the move puts Google squarely into a standards race. Rivals including OpenAI, Amazon and Microsoft are developing their own agentic commerce systems. The competition will not center on features alone, but on which protocols gain adoption and become embedded in everyday buying behavior.
Google’s advantage lies in distribution. Search and Gemini give it immediate scale and a direct path to consumers. By deploying UCP in live shopping flows rather than limiting it to developer tools, Google accelerates normalization of agent-led purchasing.
The shift also raises familiar questions. Platforms that move from directing traffic to executing transactions tend to attract regulatory scrutiny, especially when they sit between merchants and payment providers. Google has encountered similar dynamics in search advertising and mobile ecosystems.
