Google makes Etsy and Wayfair items shoppable within agentic AI search

Google is rolling out its new set of agentic AI tools, launched just last month, to third-party e-commerce platforms.

Its Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) will now let people buy items from online marketplaces Etsy and Wayfair without ever leaving Google. US shoppers can buy items available on Etsy and Wayfair when they search within AI Mode or when they use Google’s AI agent Gemini, the company said on Wednesday.

AI Mode is Google’s AI powered search tool that rolled out last May, and shoppers will see more of it when using Google’s AI shopping experience. Google’s update points to the larger trend of execution and adoption of agentic AI across the retail industry.

“This is why we introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol last month to standardize how businesses connect with AI agents across the entire shopping journey,” Vidhya Srinivasan, Google’s VP and GM of ads and commerce, wrote in a company blog post.

Etsy and Wayfair were also co-developers when UCP launched, alongside many other retail partners, including Walmart and Target.

“Agentic commerce is no longer just a concept, it’s reality,” Srinivasan added in a letter announcing these changes. ”Our goal is two-fold: One, remove the gruntwork of shopping so consumers can focus on the fun parts. Two, work hand in hand with the industry on the building blocks needed to make agentic commerce seamless and secure.”

Google also said it’s testing sponsored ads within AI Mode. After making it easier to shop within AI Mode by making it more Pinterest-like with images, Google is adding sponsored listings to the AI shopping model as part of an ad test, Srinivasan said.

Google’s advertising flywheel is also focused on AI Mode where it expects people will interact more. That’s driven by a 693% surge in referral traffic from generative AI traffic this holiday season, per Adobe.

“We’ve spent the past year testing new ad formats that bridge inspiration and action,” Srinivasan wrote. “Our research has shown that AI Mode provides a more helpful shopping experience when users can easily compare a variety of brands and stores.”

Over the last year, Google has been testing and tweaking its shopping experience with AI, whether it was adding visual results in AI Mode or clubbing its virtual try-on feature and augmented-reality-powered shopping tools in one place.