Shortly after Google declare New Universal Trade Protocol for AI-powered shopping agents, consumer economy watchdog sounds alarm.
At the post is now viral on X viewed nearly 400,000 times, Lindsay Owens wrote, “Big / bad news for consumers. Google came out today with the announcement of how they plan to integrate shopping into AI offerings including search and Gemini. The plan includes ‘personal upselling.’ Ie Analyzing chat data and using it to overcharge you.
Owens is the executive director of a consumer economics think tank Groundwork collaboration. His concern started from looking at the Google road map, as also delving into some from the detailed specification docs. The roadmap includes features that will support “upselling,” which can help merchants promote more expensive items to AI shopping agents.
He also mentioned Google’s plans to set prices for programs such as new member discounts or loyalty-based pricing, which Google CEO Sundar Pichai explained when announcing the new protocol at the National Retail Federation conference.
After TechCrunch questioned Owens’ allegations, Google both publicly responded to X and immediately spoke to TechCrunch to deny the validity of her concerns.
In the post on X, Google respond to it“These claims about prices are inaccurate. We strictly prohibit merchants from showing prices on Google that are higher than what is reflected on the site, period. 1 / The term “upselling” is not about overcharging. This is a standard way for retailers to show additional premium product options that people may like. The choice is always with the user to be offered 2 / “Pilot to buy. cheap deals* or add extra services like free shipping – can’t be used to raise prices.
In a separate conversation with TechCrunch, a Google spokesperson said that Google Business Agent does not have functionality that allows it to change retailer prices based on individual data.
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Owens also stated that Google’s technical documents about handling the buyer’s identity says that: “The complexity of the scope should be hidden in the consent screen shown to the user.”
A Google spokesperson told TechCrunch that it’s not about hiding what users agree to, but combining actions (request, create, update, delete, cancel, complete) rather than making users agree to each one separately.
Even if Owens’ concerns about this particular protocol are nothingburger as Google says, the general premise is still worth considering.
He warned that shopping agents built by Big Tech could allow merchants to adjust prices based on what they expect you to pay after analyzing AI conversations and shopping patterns. This is instead of charging the same price to everyone. They call it “the price of surveillance.”
Although Google says its agents can’t do that right now, Google is actually an advertising company that serves brands and merchants. Last year, a federal court ordered it Google to change some of its search business practices after ruling this company engaged in anticompetitive behavior.
While many of us are excited to welcome the world where we will have a team of AI agents handling pesky tasks for us (rescheduling doctor appointments, researching the replacement of mini-blinds), it does not take a clairvoyant to see the type of abuse that will work.
The problem is that the big tech companies that are in the best position to build agent shopping tools also have the most mixed incentives. Their business depends on sellers and harvesting consumer data.
That means AI-powered shopping could be a huge opportunity for startups building autonomous technology. We’re seeing the first few sprinkles of AI-powered possibilities. Startups like that Dupewhich uses natural language queries to help people find affordable furniture, and Beniwho use images and text for fashion thrifting, who are early entrants in this space.
Until then, the old adage may be true: buyer beware.