Google is beginning an experiment to change the way you shop online. When you search for a product, Google will deliver paid listings for shopping options right next to the search results. By searching for a product, you’ve demonstrated a possible intent to buy it, so Google has extended its search results with a department store where merchants can sell it to you.
Google is not selling products the way Amazon does. Rather, it’s giving merchants who use its commercial ad model the opportunity to sell to you from the Google search results page. The ads include images, descriptions and current prices, and they only show items that are in stock. Google’s shopping ads come with an API that lets merchants keep their listings accurate.
Article: “Google Launches Full-Scale Shopping in Search”
This article is by Jon Mitchell on the ReadWriteWeb (@RWW) blog.