Google introduced an open-source protocol designed to enable AI agents to help consumers make purchases online, from finding items to returning them if necessary.
What’s new: Universal Commerce Protocol UCP) provides standardized commands for programming agents to execute transactions on behalf of consumers, platforms, vendors, and payment providers. Agents can present options, submit orders, organize payments, and manage fulfillment. Businesses can declare the capabilities they support, provide automated and/or personalized shopping services, and/or facilitate transactions. UCP is published under the Apache 2.0 license.
How it works: UCP enables agents to operate using existing retail search, payment, and vendor infrastructure. Google developed it in collaboration with ecommerce companies including Etsy, Shopify, Target, Walmart, and Wayfair as well as payment providers including American Express, Mastercard, Stripe, and Visa.
- The protocol defines commands and variables for interacting with consumers (including accounts and credentials), platforms (say, search engines or online stores), vendors, merchandise or services (including attributes, features, prices, and special considerations like loyalty rewards), payments, fulfillment, and delivery.
- It uses open standards for payment, identity, and security. Likewise, it’s compatible with a variety of open agentic protocols including Model Context Protocol (access to tools and data), Agent2Agent (inter-agent collaboration), and Agent Payments Protocol (secure interactions with payment providers). It competes with OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol, but the two can work side by side.
- Google uses UCP to present products for sale within AI-generated responses produced by the Gemini app and Google Search AI Mode (available by clicking “Dive deeper in AI Mode” at the bottom of the search engine’s AI Overview). These AI-generated product listings accept payment via Google Pay, authenticated by credentials stored in Google Wallet or PayPal.
Behind the news: Google launched UCP along with a slew of features for AI-enabled commerce.
- Business Agent enables companies to build a branded agent that can converse with potential customers on Google Search. Initial participants include Lowe’s, Michael’s, Poshmark, and Reebok.
- A pilot program called Direct Offers presents special offers to users who use Google Search AI Mode to find information about items for sale.
- Retailers can add to new types of information to Google’s Merchant Center that may encourage Google Search AI Mode, Gemini, and Business Agent to mention their names. Such information includes accessories that complement particular merchandise, alternatives to particular merchandise, and answers to common questions.
Why it matters: Consumers increasingly turn to chatbots for product information and recommendations. UCP makes it simpler to buy what they find (which benefits consumers) and encourages impulse purchases (a boon to vendors). It also complements Google's advertising business as the company experiments with showing ads in chatbots. It also could open the way for enterprise-scale businesses to build independent agents that collaborate to manage entire supply chains.
We’re thinking: UCP is an open protocol, but adoption by merchants clearly benefits Google and other aggregators. In an earlier era, Google tried to dominate consumer searches through Google Shopping, which gained limited traction. If Google convinces vendors to open their catalogs so Gemini and other chatbots can help their users shop, it could allow Google to consolidate shopping in a way that gives tremendous power to chatbot operators.