A consumer watchdog issued a warning about Google’s AI agent shopping protocol — Google says she’s wrong

Shortly aft Google announced its caller Universal Commerce Protocol for AI-powered buying agents, a user economics watchdog sounded the alarm.

In a present viral station connected X viewed astir 400,000 times, Lindsay Owens connected Sunday wrote, “Big/bad quality for consumers. Google is retired contiguous with an announcement of however they program to integrate buying into their AI offerings including hunt and Gemini. The program includes ‘personalized upselling.’ I.e. Analyzing your chat information and utilizing it to overcharge you.”

Owens is enforcement manager of the user economics deliberation vessel Groundwork Collaborative. Her interest stems from looking astatine Google’s roadmap, arsenic well arsenic delving into some of its elaborate specification docs. The roadmap includes a diagnostic that volition enactment “upselling,” which could assistance merchants beforehand much costly items to AI buying agents.

She besides called retired Google’s plans to set prices for programs similar new-member discounts oregon loyalty-based pricing, which Google CEO Sundar Pichai described erstwhile helium announced the caller protocol astatine the National Retail Federation conference.

After TechCrunch inquired astir Owens’ allegations, Google some publically responded connected X and spoke with TechCrunch straight to cull the validity of her concerns.

In a station connected X, Google responded that, “These claims astir pricing are inaccurate. We strictly prohibit merchants from showing prices connected Google that are higher than what is reflected connected their site, period. 1/ The word “upselling” is not astir overcharging. It’s a modular mode for retailers to amusement further premium merchandise options that radical mightiness beryllium funny in. The prime is ever with the idiosyncratic connected what to buy. 2/ “Direct Offers” is simply a aviator that enables merchants to connection a *lower* priced woody oregon adhd other services similar escaped shipping — it cannot beryllium utilized to rise prices.”

In a abstracted speech with TechCrunch, a Google spokesperson said that Google’s Business Agent does not person functionality that would let it to alteration a retailer’s pricing based connected idiosyncratic data.

Owens besides pointed retired that Google’s method documents on handling a shopper’s identity accidental that: “The scope complexity should beryllium hidden successful the consent surface shown to the user.”

The Google spokesperson told that TechCrunch that this is not astir hiding what the idiosyncratic is agreeing to, but consolidating actions (get, create, update, delete, cancel, complete) alternatively making a idiosyncratic hold to each 1 separately.

Even if Owens’ concerns astir this peculiar protocol are a nothingburger arsenic Google asserts, her wide premise is inactive worthy immoderate thought.

She is informing that buying agents built by Big Tech could 1 time let merchants to customize pricing based connected what they deliberation you are consenting to wage aft analyzing your AI chats and buying patterns. This is alternatively of charging the aforesaid terms to everyone. She calls it “surveillance pricing.”

Although Google says its agents can’t bash specified a happening now, it’s besides existent that Google is, astatine its heart, an advertizing institution serving brands and merchants. Last year, a national tribunal ordered Google to alteration a fig of hunt concern practices aft ruling the institution was engaged successful anticompetitive behavior.

While galore of america are excited to invited a satellite wherever we’d person a squad of AI agents handling pesky tasks for america (rescheduling doctor’s appointments, researching replacement mini-blinds), it doesn’t instrumentality a clairvoyant to spot the kinds of maltreatment that volition beryllium possible.

The occupation is that the large tech companies that are successful the champion presumption to physique agentic buying tools besides person the astir mixed incentives. Their concern rests connected serving the sellers and harvesting information connected consumers.

That means AI-powered buying could beryllium a large accidental for startups gathering autarkic tech. We’re seeing the archetypal fewer sprinkles of AI-powered possibilities. Startups similar Dupe, which uses earthy connection queries to assistance radical find affordable furniture, and Beni, which uses representation and substance for thrifting fashion, are aboriginal entrants successful this space.

Until then, the aged adage astir apt holds true: purchaser beware.