UCP is Universal Commerce Protocol, 'a new open standard for agentic commerce that works across the entire shopping journey.' It basically lets you more effortlessly connect your ecommerce store with agents to have the AI agents checkout with your site.
You can use multi-channel products to manage your inventory for both online and in-store sales within a single, unified product listing. Google explained that "this approach simplifies how you manage your products and helps you reach more customers." With multi-channel products, you can oversee your online and in-store inventory together. Previously, you might have maintained separate listings for the same product if you sold it both online and in physical stores.
Google dropped a number of search features and structured data types. Google is testing a new version of AI Mode. Google AI Mode gained three new agentic capabilities. Google AI Overviews continue to result in a drop in click-through rates, a report says. Google is testing replacing the definitions box with AI Overviews. Google's John Mueller issued a PSA on verifying your cloud URLs with Search Console.
Introducing Video assets in Creative content: Google has surfaced your brand and product videos to help you engage more customers and increase conversions. Engage more customers and increase conversions with your videos on Google. In Video assets, Google brings together videos from your website and social channels as well as those generated by Al. You can manage how your videos are shown across Google in organic search results, your ad campaigns, and on your brand profile.
Google has updated its Google Merchant Center policies to now allow for the sale of physical goods subscriptions. Google said this "will be available to all eligible Shopping ad merchants in the United States." This will allow retailers to sell physical goods on a recurring basis; like book subscriptions, apparel, etc. Google wrote, "This update allows you to sell physical goods on a recurring basis, giving you more flexibility in your business models and offering your customers more convenient ways to shop."
Google has updated its Misrepresentation policy for both Shopping ads and free listings within Google Merchant Center. Google said the "update provides additional examples of what the policy covers, more guidance on how to be compliant, and more information about our appeals process." Google added: Enforcement clarification: Google added additional examples around non-delivery and inoperable return/refund processes. This isn't a change to our current enforcement but a clarification for your reference.
Google has added a new promotion option to Google Merchant Center. The new option is Google Wallet. Google doesn't detail what this promotion does but it likely lets you promote that you accept Google Wallet for purchases. This change was spotted by Gabriele Benedetti which was covered by Emmanuel Flossie who posted about it on LinkedIn and his blog - he wrote:
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google is testing an Ask AI Mode anything carousel feature. Bing is testing an updated Copilot product search box. Google Merchant Center allows you to use your own brand name in your short title. Google Discover was showing the publisher's name twice, it was a bug. Plus, I am offline today for Sukkos, so this email was pre-written
Google updated the wording in the title documentation for Merchant Center, now suggesting you can use your own brand or company name in the short title of your products. That is, if you manufacture your own products.
Google appears to be reintroducing the "product status change" report within Google Merchant Center. This displays the historical changes of your product statuses and is a feature that was greatly missed.
While a minor update on the surface, this change is a welcome one for usability. By removing the gear icon - which many users overlooked or misunderstood - and replacing it with a plainly labeled 'Settings' section, Google is making the platform more intuitive, especially for new or less technical users.
