Google's Universal Cart tracks shopping journeys across the web

On Tuesday at Google I/O, the company unveiled Universal Cart, a central hub for managing all your shopping in one place. Google also revealed updates to its Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) and hinted at bringing the technology to its own products in the coming months, allowing users to authorize agents to make payments on their behalf.

These announcements reflect Google's effort to transform AI assistants from passive recommendation tools into active participants in online shopping. By introducing a centralized cart system and creating infrastructure that enables software agents to complete purchases autonomously, Google is positioning itself to oversee more of the entire shopping journey — and potentially reshape the relationship between consumers and merchants vying for their attention.

With Universal Cart, users can add products they’re considering from anywhere across Google — whether browsing Search, chatting with Gemini, watching YouTube, or reading Gmail. Once items are added, the cart tracks deals, monitors price drops, displays price history insights, and notifies users when items come back in stock.

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This feature is built on a reality Google knows well: most people shop across multiple devices, multiple retailers, and over several days.

The cart also leverages AI to help shoppers make smarter choices. For instance, if you're building your first custom PC, you can add parts from different merchants into one cart, and Google can flag compatibility issues — like a processor that doesn't work with your selected motherboard — and suggest an alternative.

For frequent travelers or rewards enthusiasts, the feature can uncover hidden savings and help you get more from your points, since it's built on Google Wallet.

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Thanks to Google's open-standard Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), users can check out directly through Google with participating merchants, or transfer items to the merchant's site and complete the purchase there.

Universal Cart is rolling out in the U.S. starting today, with the Gemini app set to get it this summer, followed by YouTube and Gmail, according to Google.

Google also announced that UCP is expanding to more verticals, such as hotels and local food delivery services. UCP-powered experiences will also expand beyond the U.S. to Canada and Australia in the coming months, and later to the U.K.

The more consequential announcement for the commerce industry may be AP2, Google's protocol that lets AI agents securely make payments on behalf of users within defined limits. At I/O, Google outlined the guardrails users can set, such as specifying preferred brands and products, along with a spending limit. When those conditions are met, the agent automatically completes the purchase.

Image Credits:Sarah Perez/TechCrunch

Google says it will bring AP2 to its own products in the coming months. This integration would give Google direct insight into what consumers discover, consider, and ultimately purchase — a level of commercial influence that retailers and payment processors will be monitoring closely.

Under the hood, AP2 creates a transparent, verifiable link between the user, the merchant, and the payment processor, with encryption protecting user data at every step. The protocol also includes tamper-proof digital records that confirm the agent always acts on the user's behalf, along with a permanent audit trail that both buyers and sellers can refer to for returns or disputes.

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