Vidhya Srinivasan, Google's Vice President and General Manager of Advertising2026 Annual Open LetterThe document explicitly states that AI agents will perform complex tasks on behalf of users in "Agent Commerce," and it is expected to officially move from the concept stage to the "practical application" stage starting in 2026.
To achieve this goal, Google is pushing forward its recently proposed..."Universal Commerce Protocol" (UCP)The open standard aims to enable AI to seamlessly connect with major e-commerce platforms, allowing you to purchase items before you even leave the chat window.
UCP General Business Agreement: Bridging the Last Mile Between AI and Shopping Carts
What is "agency commerce"? Simply put, it's about evolving AI from a "chatbot that can only answer questions" into a "broker who can run errands for you".
Vidhya Srinivasan emphasized that Google is expanding the deployment of the UCP protocol, an open standard used to connect businesses with AI agents. Currently, Google search for "AI Mode" and the Gemini app are already operational in the United States.
Through the UCP protocol, when users ask for home decorating advice, AI can not only provide inspiration, but also directly retrieve product inventory and prices from partners (such as Etsy or Wayfair) and complete the purchase process within the dialog box, without having to be redirected to an external website.
Advertising formats are evolving again: AI helps you negotiate prices?
As search behavior changes, the form of advertising must also change. Google unveils several new AI-powered advertising approaches:
• Sponsored links integrated into AI answers:Google is testing how to naturally integrate sponsored links into AI-generated answers. When users discuss specific needs with the AI, relevant products will appear as suggestions, rather than just rigid banner ads.
• Direct Offers:This is a feature designed for users with "high purchase intent". The AI can determine whether you really want to buy during the conversation and directly offer you an "exclusive discount code" or "limited-time offer" to give you a push, shortening the hesitation period from awareness to placing an order.
Veo 3 generation model integrated, automating ad creatives.
On the advertiser side, Google has also fully upgraded its AI tools. The advertiser's backend, "Asset Studio," will integrate the latest video generation model, "Veo 3." This means that advertisers no longer need to spend a lot of money to produce videos; they only need to input copy or product images, and AI can generate high-quality promotional videos, and even automatically adjust the content based on different user contexts.
In addition, YouTube has enhanced its AI matchmaking capabilities, which can automatically analyze video content and audience to help brands find the most suitable creator communities for advertising.
Analysis of viewpoints
The term "agency business" sounds mysterious, but it is actually the ultimate form of "Search as a Service".
In the past, searching for products on Google involved the following process: Search → Click the link → Enter the e-commerce website → Add to cart → Checkout. However, in the "agent commerce" era of 2026, the process will become: Tell AI what I want → AI recommends and confirms → AI places the order, eliminating all those cumbersome webpage redirects.
This could be a life-or-death battle for Google. If users become accustomed to resolving issues in ChatGPT or Claude, then Google's most profitable search ads will be ignored. Through the UCP agreement, Google is attempting to establish a "shopping standard for the AI era," drawing e-commerce businesses back into its ecosystem.
But this also brings hidden concerns: when AI becomes your shopping agent, are the products it recommends to you because they are "most suitable for you" or because they "pay the most for advertising"? This line may become increasingly blurred in the future.
For e-commerce websites, the future may no longer require elaborate homepages. They may only need to write good APIs to ensure that Google's AI can understand their inventory, and business will naturally come to them.
