Report: Google To Add 'Buy' Buttons To Mobile Search Results

An anonymous reader writes: According to a (paywalled) report in the Wall Street Journal, Google is stepping up its efforts to take some of the online marketspace away from Amazon and eBay. Soon, the company will start showing "buy" buttons alongside sponsored search results on mobile devices. So, for example, if you search for a particular pair of pants, and one of the top sponsored results is from Macy's, then Macy's can pay Google to slap a big "buy" button right there that will take you directly to a product page where you can pick sizes and shipping options before checking out. Google won't be selling the products, but they will be hosting the product pages — "a major and potentially risky strategy shift that will turn the company into more of an online transactional business, rather than simply a provider of links to information elsewhere on the Internet." The report says Google will be trying to streamline the purchasing process by taking the payment from the customer and then passing it on to the retailer, so users only need to input their credit card details once.

Re:

[Zontar The Mindless]

"People who bought Lea Thompson also bought..."

not a bad idea

[ganjadude]

on the one hand, its a great idea. I love being able to do a search and get a phone number and click it, opens my phone app and dials. Its great when integration works well

on the other hand, I dont want it to be TOO easy to buy things i dont need. as long as its not a buy it now button linked to google wallet its a good idea.

Re:

[Paradise Pete]

It's a terrible idea.

No, it's a great idea! This way Google will better know what things you buy, which helps them to create a better web experience for you!

Re:

[Paradise Pete]

What's the difference between clicking the URL or the buy button?

Couldn't quite make it all the way through to the end of the summary? I hear you bro.

Two steps forward, three steps back

[Anonymous Coward]

Didn't Google essentially have this with shop nearly a decade ago? Then they shitcanned that for sponsored links that nearly no one uses, unless you like spending twice the price.

Then they saw how Paypal was expanding (and my god, now. I can use a Paypal account to pay for items at the local five and dime), and introduced Google Wallet, which could have been immense, but is instead a bit player in online payments.

Google already has a long history of innovation but no follow through, and especially now, seem

Only when I say 'Buy" first!

[leftover]

Sometimes when I do a search my intent is to consider buying something but that is fewer than 3% of my searches. I am continually annoyed by the barrage of sales-oriented items and pre-emptive ads when I really wanted a spec sheet.

I would cheerfully say "buy" as one of the keywords if that is my intent. That should be a more valuable click-through to boot.

Re:

[leftover]

re "to boot"
A colloquialism meaning roughly "for extra benefit".

Re:

[JaredOfEuropa]

I am often in the opposite situation: I am trying to buy something and being in a small market (the Netherlands) it can be tough to find a local source for things like electronic components or gun parts. Search results often only yield spec sheets or discussions on a forum, so I frequently add the word "kopen" (buy) to my search queries. It helps but only to some degree, and I too would like to see Google to treat the word "buy" (or the absence of it) with special care.

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[theshowmecanuck]

It's why Wikipedia is popular. It is one of the few places you can search on a subject and get that subject returned. And then have it give you useful or interesting information on that topic. Google returns nothing but spam now. Biggest spam machine since Hormel.

A logical use if existing infrastructure

[esaul]

We can't say that we couldn't have seen it coming. The Products Feed spec existed for years as part of Google Merchant Centre, now it's one of the centerpieces making this possible - https://support.google.com/mer... [google.com]

all the more reason to...

[Anonymous Coward]

run adblock on google.

Can somone

[bobstreo]

Write a firefox/chrome/greasemonkey script to remove these buttons asap.

The last thing I need on a tiny screen with an almost useless browser is a link to buy things.

Thanks

Re:

[GuB-42]

Write a firefox/chrome/greasemonkey script to remove these buttons asap.

The last thing I need on a tiny screen with an almost useless browser is a link to buy things.

Thanks

Any adblocker worth its salt removes sponsored links altogether.
Unfortunately Chrome mobile doesn't support extensions so your best bet is probably Firefox mobile + uBlock.
As for the Google search app (the most likely target), you probably can't do much about it besides, maybe, an xposed module (note : xposed framework requires a supported rooted device).

Amazon App Store

[Bing Tsher E]

Is Amazon doing any of these obnoxious things?

Because it wouldn't be hard for me to reset my Android phone, sideload the Android app store, and never log into google with my phone again.

Re:

[Bing Tsher E]

Correction: sideload the Amazon App Store.

"on mobile devices"

[msobkow]

That makes sick and twisted sense. People who are surfing from phones are more likely to be "instant gratification" types who aren't going to shop around for the best price or for alternate products. After all, they can't even wait to get home to *search* for the product.

Re:

[requerdanos]

Except that I personally know several people whose only Internet access is on their iphone/android phone/tablet. If this would make anything easier for them (and I know it's a big "if"), then it could be more of a good thing than just playing to instant gratification.

Re:

[msobkow]

If they're not doing it to play the "instant gratification" card, why not subject desktop users to the same abuse?

Greate

[slashtrix]

Now we will directly able to see the top purchase products. OTOH we still have to go to the page to compare things. While buying a product almost every person compares, so that does not effect the way people buy things in a broader way.

Now Google is fucking up the internet

[theshowmecanuck]

First they fuck up my mobile experience by putting sites they think aren't good enough for mobile to be off the radar as far a search results go. They say it is because mobile pages are better. I say bullshit. Even on my phone, 90% of the time I'd rather see a full site with columns than a fucking mobile site. Most mobile sites are shit compared to the full site, and the size of screens are more than enough to handle it. Fuck off Google and just return search results without your fucking tailoring.

Now it seems they are OK with wasting screen real estate if it is for them to put 'buy' buttons on their searches. I say again, fuck off google.

Maybe time to try yahoo or duck duck for searches.

What could possibly ...

[CaptainDork]

... go wrong? From TFS:

... so users only need to input their credit card details once.