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ZDNET's key takeaways
Google's Universal Cart lets shoppers purchase products from multiple retailers in one place.
Gemini's agentic AI runs in the background to suggest purchases.
The goal is to automate purchases, streamline checkout, and predict consumer behavior.
At Google's I/O developer conference on Tuesday, the company introduced a slew of updates to search, including a new feature called "Universal Cart", an AI-powered shopping assistant that consolidates your shopping into one place under Google's Universal Commerce Protocol. One cart, multiple retailers.
The UCP is an open standard for commerce and agentic AI, co-developed alongside major retailers such as Target, Shopify, Wayfair, and Etsy. It allows them to operate on Google Pay while still giving customers access to retailer-specific data, such as loyalty programs or credit cards.
Also: Everything we saw at Google I/O: Gemini 3.5, Android XR glasses, Spark, and more
Universal Cart gives Google's AI access to your product selections from all over its ecosystem: YouTube, Gmail, Gemini, or search, allowing it to provide insights on what you're buying, make suggestions, and open the door for all sorts of other interactions.
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