Summary

Google is rolling out AI performance insights in India and other markets, a YouTube Business Agent beta and new Universal Commerce Protocol checkout tools for retailers. The company is also adding product-feed features intended to improve how shoppers discover products and loyalty benefits.

Google is adding several AI-driven commerce tools for retailers ahead of the holiday shopping season. The updates include generally available AI performance insights in Merchant Center, a Business Agent beta inside YouTube ads, expanded Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) checkout capabilities and new ways to add conversational and loyalty information to product feeds.

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AI visibility and conversational shopping

AI performance insights in Merchant Center are now available to businesses in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the United States. The feature shows how shoppers discover a retailer’s brand and products through conversational surfaces, including AI Mode and AI Overviews.

Google describes the feature as a way to compare a retailer’s “share of voice” with other brands across those surfaces. In practical terms, it gives businesses a view of their relative presence in AI-generated shopping discovery and allows them to act on that information within Merchant Center.

Google is also inviting eligible retailers in the United States to join the beta for Business Agent in YouTube ads. The tool is embedded directly in an ad, allowing viewers to ask complex product questions, conduct product research and receive tailored guidance without leaving YouTube. Google previously introduced Business Agent in Search, where it says brands can provide instant, tailored support during shopping research.

The YouTube version is intended to connect product discovery inside video advertising with the questions shoppers ask before they are ready to buy. Its availability is currently limited to the US beta and eligible retailers.

Checkout moves closer to the merchant

Google is expanding the integration hub for its Universal Commerce Protocol. UCP already supports direct checkout for hundreds of thousands of brands and retailers across Google, according to the company.

Merchants using the hub for UCP-powered checkout can now enable cart transfer to their own websites and enhanced checkout-flow testing. Google says analytics capabilities are also planned. The new functions are gradually rolling out in the United States, with Australia and Canada scheduled to follow early next year.

Google cites Tapestry, the owner of brands including Coach and Kate Spade, as an example of a retailer that integrated UCP-powered checkout on Google. The company began selling products in Search, including AI Mode, and in the Gemini app ahead of the gifting season.

The technical significance of this change is that AI-assisted product discovery can be connected more directly to a retailer’s existing shopping and checkout systems. That can reduce the separation between finding a product through a conversational interface and completing the transaction through the merchant’s preferred flow.

Product feeds become part of the shopping experience

Google is encouraging retailers to treat product-feed data as an input to AI-assisted discovery rather than only as basic catalogue information. It recommends using the video link attribute to power visual, shoppable advertising formats and submitting conversational attributes that add richer context to product listings.

The company says merchants adopting core Merchant Center feed best practices see an average 5% increase in conversions in the following month. This is a company-reported average rather than a result from a study described in the announcement.

In testing with lululemon, Google says conversational attributes supplied by the brand were included 50% of the time in relevant product recommendations in AI Mode. The result relates specifically to that test and to relevant recommendations, rather than representing a general performance rate for all retailers.

Retailers can also connect loyalty data in Merchant Center. This allows Google to display member benefits and member pricing across its services. Google gives Minted’s Minted More programme as an example: members searching for holiday cards can see results with their programme pricing. Loyalty information can also be used to highlight benefits such as free shipping and to support bids aimed at higher-value shoppers.

Rollout and reported results

The announcement broadens Google’s attempt to make shopping interfaces more conversational and action-oriented. Retailers can measure how their products appear in AI-driven discovery, answer questions within YouTube ads and connect product information with checkout and loyalty benefits.

The rollout is uneven across the tools. AI performance insights are available in India and the other four named markets. Business Agent in YouTube ads is a beta for eligible US retailers, while the latest UCP capabilities are beginning in the US and are expected to reach Australia and Canada early next year. Google’s conversion and recommendation figures are company-reported results tied to specified merchant-feed practices or individual testing contexts.

Sources