Google just made dozens of AI announcements at I/O this year.

From Universal Cart, to AI-generated search ads, to Merchant Center becoming an AI visibility layer, Google is quietly reshaping how products get discovered, compared, and purchased online.

And I think most brands are underestimating what this means for the next few years.

Let’s break it down.

Topics we'll cover today:
💠 Google Just Introduced Universal Cart
💠 Big Google I/O Announcements
💠 Latest news in the DTC space

A multi-merchant cart that follows shoppers across Search, Gemini, YouTube, and Gmail.

A shopper can discover products while searching on Google, chatting with Gemini, watching a YouTube review, or browsing Gmail.

As products get added to the cart, Google starts layering information around the purchase.

Price tracking.
Back-in-stock alerts.
Price history.
Product compatibility checks.
Alternative recommendations.
Payment suggestions tied to rewards and cashback offers inside Google Wallet.

Then comes the important part.

When shoppers are ready to buy, they can either check out through Google Pay or continue the purchase on the retailer’s website.

The retailer still owns the transaction and customer relationship.

That’s a meaningful distinction.

One of the reasons OpenAI’s Instant Checkout struggled was because it inserted itself too deeply into the transaction layer.

Google seems to be approaching this differently.

Instead of replacing existing commerce infrastructure, they’re building on top of systems merchants already use, like Merchant Center, Google Pay, and product feeds.

Which probably makes adoption easier for large retailers.

And if you zoom out, this says something bigger about where commerce is moving.

Shopping journeys are becoming more distributed.
Discovery happens in one place.
Research happens somewhere else.
Comparison, cart-building, and checkout may happen across multiple interfaces.

Google is trying to connect those steps into one continuous experience.

That has implications for brands.
Product feeds become more important.
Product data quality becomes more important.
Reviews, pricing consistency, inventory accuracy, and merchandising logic become more important.

Because AI-assisted shopping systems rely on structured information.

The brands that communicate products more clearly across platforms will likely have an advantage as these systems evolve.

Universal Cart rolls out first across Search and Gemini in the US this summer, with YouTube and Gmail integrations expected later. Early retail partners include Nike, Sephora, Walmart, Target, Ulta Beauty, Wayfair, Fenty, and Steve Madden.

--
Follow me on LinkedIn for more growth marketing content in the e-commerce space.

Over the past few months, we’ve audited over 50 7fig+ brands. 

Most weren’t struggling to grow.
They were struggling to grow efficiently. 

Revenue was there.
Profit wasn’t. 

And in many cases, the same patterns kept showing up:

That’s what keeps brands stuck in plateaus, even while spending more.

Q2 is where this compounds.

You either fix the system…
Or you pay more to get the same results. 

At BSR, we work with 7- and 8-figure brands to identify where profit is leaking across ads, email, and the customer journey, and build a clear roadmap to scale efficiently.

If you’re planning to push growth in Q2, this is the moment to get the foundation right.

Google made a lot of AI announcements at I/O this year.

Here are the main ones you should pay attention to:

One of the more interesting announcements was Gemini Spark.

A persistent AI agent Google is developing that can monitor information, complete tasks, and eventually authorize purchases within limits set by users.

Still early.

But combined with Universal Cart and AI Search (read below), the direction becomes clearer.

Google is preparing for shopping journeys where AI systems assist customers across discovery, comparison, monitoring, and purchase decisions.

Google rolled out new Merchant Center features that let brands track how they appear inside AI-driven search experiences.

This is probably one of the clearest signals yet that AI search visibility is becoming its own category.

Because if shoppers increasingly search through conversational interfaces, product data quality becomes much more important.

Titles.
Attributes.
Reviews.
Pricing consistency.
Inventory accuracy.

All of these help AI systems understand, summarize, compare, and recommend products more accurately.

Google also confirmed they’re testing AI-generated ads directly inside AI Mode and Search.

Meaning sponsored placements are starting to appear inside conversational shopping experiences.

This changes the environment brands compete in.

Instead of competing only for clicks across traditional search results, brands may increasingly compete for placement inside summarized answers and AI-generated product recommendations.

And honestly, attribution probably gets more complicated from here.

Google also redesigned Search to process:

Text
Screenshots
Images
Videos
Files
Browser tabs

Inside the same search flow.

This matters because product discovery becomes less dependent on keywords alone.

Someone might upload a screenshot, ask Gemini to compare products, watch YouTube reviews, and continue shopping from there.

That increases the importance of:

Because AI systems need context to understand and recommend products correctly.

--
Follow me on LinkedIn for more growth marketing content in the e-commerce space.

If you found this interesting, please leave us a review. It’d mean the world to me.

📰 TikTok launches MCP server to let AI agents run campaigns [read more]
📰 AI skills: The next layer of marketing automation [read more]
📰 ChatGPT Becomes Top AI Shopping Tool in US [read more]

Brian Roisentul is the founder & CEO of BSR, a growth marketing agency he started in 2013 to help e-commerce brands unlock hidden revenue by identifying misalignments between their marketing and customer behavior. He is also the host of The DTC Insider podcast, where he interviews thought leaders, founders, and directors in the e-commerce space.

Want to talk shop?
If your brand is doing at least 7 figures, apply here to get featured (for free) on The DTC Insider podcast and my team will get in touch.

Need help to grow your online sales?
Book a call with me and let’s explore how my team and I at BSR can help you.

Promote your Business to 11,000+ People in the DTC Space
The DTC Insider (newsletter + podcast) reaches a highly qualified audience of DTC founders, directors, and marketers. Learn more about the sponsorship opportunities we offer for your business. If you’d like to become a sponsor, apply here.