[REVISION HISTORY]

Google Universal Commerce Protocol rollout

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What changed

2026-10-18 23:54 UTC → 2026-10-20 17:54 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Google began updating its Merchant Center Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) hub to introduce cart transfer and expanded checkout testing features. This initial rollout in the United States aimed to allow shoppers to move items selected on Google directly to a merchant’s website, helping retailers maintain direct customer relationships. To facilitate this, Google introduced a Cart API through the UCP hub, allowing retailers to preserve the final customer touchpoint on their own sites. The integration includes a streamlined validation path that does not require a full product feed setup, product warnings, or customer support details, which is intended to reduce friction for smaller or less technical teams. Google also provided a sandbox environment for merchants to test cart and checkout requests before live deployment. While currently live in the United States, Australia and Canada are expected to follow early next year. Following these updates, Google officially launched ‘Universal Cart’ in the United States. This AI-powered feature, integrated into Google Search, Gemini, and Chrome, enables consumers to aggregate products from multiple retailers into a single, unified shopping cart. Utilizing the UCP and Google’s Shopping Graph—which contains over 60 billion product listings—the tool provides automated notifications for price drops and restocks, surfaces promotional codes, and suggests optimal payment methods via Google Wallet. While some items can be purchased through Google Pay, participating retailers remain the seller of record. Participating retailers include major brands such as Nike, Sephora, Target, Walmart, Wayfair, Ulta Beauty, and various Shopify merchants. While the service was initially limited to the United States, the Universal Commerce Protocol is expanding to include Mexico, with Google’s roadmap also indicating potential future expansion to Canada, Australia, and the UK.

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