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

Consumer economics watchdog Groundwork Collaborative's executive director, Lindsay Owens, warned that Google's new Universal Commerce Protocol for AI shopping agents could lead to personalized upselling and overcharging by analyzing user chat data.

Owens specifically cited roadmap features supporting "upselling" and adjusting prices for loyalty discounts. Google publicly and privately refuted these claims, stating they strictly prohibit merchants from showing higher prices than on their own sites and clarifying that "upselling" refers to offering premium options, not overcharging. Google also stated its Business Agent cannot change retailer pricing based on individual data.

Owens also raised concerns about technical documentation suggesting the complexity of handling shopper identity should be hidden from the user, which Google explained as consolidating actions for simplicity. Despite Google's denials regarding the current protocol, the article notes the broader concern that Big Tech companies, whose business relies on serving sellers and harvesting consumer data, have mixed incentives regarding potential future "surveillance pricing."

(Source：TechCrunch)