Google is pitching brands on its role as a “matchmaker” that pairs shoppers with products through AI agents, not a marketplace where they shop, according to Mitchell Parton at ADWEEK. Marco Delaroche, a Google retail and commerce sales leader, told a WPP event on October 22 that Google isn’t “taking the place of the retailer itself.” Retailers still fulfill the orders and handle customer support, but Google’s AI picks which products shoppers see, and its new Universal Cart lets them check out from multiple stores without visiting a retailer’s site. Delaroche said agents increasingly narrow a shopper’s options to about three products, which he described as the new shelf, so brands that don’t give Google complete product details risk being left off it.
