Coming Soon: The new Google Shopping.

Google has rolled out a brand new look to Google Shopping in the US. We’ve been getting hands-on with it ahead of its imminent UK rollout. Here’s a preview:

From a broader perspective, our take on this is that we believe Google is attempting to make the Google Shopping tab a destination in itself (similar to Google Images + Maps).

This way, it frees the main Search results to be more chat-like and AI-powered for non-commercial terms to offer a similar experience to ChatGPT + Perplexity. We also discuss this in more detail on our podcast.

The need for this is further supported by Google announcing a 1.5x increase in search terms with five or more words, signalling how users' needs are becoming way more specific and, from the use of AI models, more long-form chat-like searches.

Read our seven takeaways from the new Google Shopping here or use the link below.

Chat GPT Launches Search

ChatGPT Search has launched, and we feel it’s not ready to be part of an eCom marketing strategy anytime soon! The way products are served is not a good experience. Sam Altman (ChatGPT's CEO) even acknowledged this in a Reddit post, explaining that a new iteration is coming. See our Data Scientists' thoughts below, along with the Altman thread.

You can also read more about our thoughts on the impact of AI Search on the SEO industry in next month’s newsletter.

Retailers Start Incentivising to Avoid Apple Pay

Our Head of SEO, Tom G, attended a Stripe webinar this month. The topic was “Global Commerce Trends To Be Aware of In 2025”. An interesting takeaway is that larger companies offer customers a discount to transact directly instead of using payment providers like Apple Pay or Google Pay. High transaction fees and potential hidden data could impact this decision. AirBnB was an example cited for offering up to $400 discount to avoid these convenient payment providers. Speaking from a personal perspective, I actively don’t purchase if a retailer doesn’t offer Apple Pay these days.

Here is the slow rise of transaction fees for UK businesses in the past 5 years:

Watch the full recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13zZfpOpmww

Goodbye Pop-Ups on iPhone

Ahead of our recording, Jake shared a screen recording with me (you can see this below). With the new IoS update, you can remove any cookie pop-ups and email capture pop-ups instantly. This could significantly impact our analytics due to cookie consent. If the pop-ups offer discount incentives for customers, it could also impact email sign-ups. Instead, focus on high-quality content and targeting top-of-funnel searchers with an embedded email capture.

Amazon Releases AI Bot ‘Rufus’

Over the weekend, my tumble dryer broke. I started looking for a replacement band and was met with Rufus for the first time. Rufus is Amazon's new AI content chat bot, providing answers to FAQs. It’s interesting as this is Amazon's first move into actual content, and it could lead to further advice-type content in the future.

Discount Codes Now in Chrome

In this age of hyper-consumerism, there’s no escaping it. Chrome recently announced that it would provide discount codes directly in the browser. From a user perspective, I can see the appeal of this as many retailers offer a code for first-time customers once you’ve verified your email address, but sometimes these take a while to come through, and I like the idea of a code right there ready for you. From a retailer perspective, it means you need to be on top of your codes, and no doubt it will impact margins as many people who would have previously purchased without a code will now be notified to use it.

Google Announces Purchases Directly in Shopping

Google also announced it’s releasing instant purchases via the search results for the first time. I suspect this is part of the new Google shopping launch as it’s still U.S. only. It’s an interesting move and a direct combat against TikTok shop, Amazon, and similar providers. Google has always wanted to be more than just a referral engine, but I’m unsure how this will play out. It could be good for low AOV, and low intent purchases, but not many people would purchase without reading more about a brand and the product itself.

Perplexity Integrates with Shopify

Perplexity has hit the commercial aspect of Search hard. Likely as a way to differentiate and compete vs ChatGPT. This is only in the U.S. for now, but its a big mo’s a big move to position itself more commercially, as showcased here > https://x.com/_foundress/status/1858687462538977370?s=46.

As mentioned above, it’s still a significant downside of ChatGPT > https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/shop-like-a-pro

The Man Who Killed Search - Prabhakar Raghavan

Google’s head of Search and Ads (and famously, the “the man who killed Google Search”) has been replaced by Nick Fox. https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-men-who-killed-google/ < This is well worth a read.

“Using emails revealed as part of the Department of Justice's antitrust trial against Google over the search, it told the tale of how Prabhakar Raghavan, then Google's head of ads, led a coup that began the slow descent of the world's most important website toward its current, half-broken form.” 

It’s hard to say anything that’s improved in Google Search over the last few years besides Alphabets share prices. Read more here about Google ads CPC trends and what it means for the next 4 years.

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