Google launches Universal Cart to save items across Search, Gemini, and more

In short: Google is rolling out Universal Cart in the U.S., a new feature that lets people save items to one shared shopping cart across several Google services.

What happened

Google announced Universal Cart at its I/O event. Google says the goal is to make it easier to shop over time, even if you switch devices or jump between different stores.

Universal Cart lets you add products you are considering from places like Google Search, the Gemini app (Google’s chatbot), YouTube, and Gmail. Once an item is in the cart, Google says it can track deals, watch for price drops, show price history, and alert you when something is back in stock.

Google also said Universal Cart can use AI (software that tries to spot patterns and make suggestions, like a very fast assistant) to help with shopping decisions. One example Google gave is building a custom PC, where it may warn you if two parts do not work together and suggest another option.

Alongside this, Google discussed updates to two behind-the-scenes systems. One is the Universal Commerce Protocol, which is meant to help participating merchants support checkout through Google, or send you to the merchant’s site to finish buying. The other is Agent Payments Protocol, which Google says can allow an AI “agent” (a program that can take actions for you) to make purchases for you within limits you set, like a spending cap.

Universal Cart is rolling out in the U.S. today, with expansion to the Gemini app this summer, and YouTube and Gmail after that, according to Google.

Why it matters

For regular shoppers, this could feel like having one shopping list that follows you around online (like a single cart you can carry between stores). It could also raise new questions about how much shopping activity one company can see, since the system can track what you consider and what you buy.

Source: TechCrunch AI