Google denies claims that AI shopping tools enable overcharging

Google has launched its new Universal Commerce Protocol, a protocol for AI-powered shopping agents, sparking a public dispute over how the technology handles consumer data. On Sunday, Lindsay Owens, the executive director of the consumer economics think tank Groundwork Collaborative, posted a warning on X that was viewed nearly 400,000 times. Owens claimed that Google’s new protocol could lead to personalized upselling and overcharging by analyzing user chat data. Google has rejected these allegations. According to Google, “These claims around pricing are inaccurate. We strictly prohibit merchants from showing prices on Google that are higher than what is reflected on their site, period.” A Google spokesperson also stated that its Business Agent does not have functionality that would allow it to change a retailer’s pricing based on individual data.

The disagreement centers on the technical definitions within Google’s documentation. Google clarified that the term upselling is not about overcharging, but is instead a standard retail method to show premium product options that users might want. The company also pointed to its Direct Offers pilot, which it says enables merchants to offer lower prices or extra services like free shipping, rather than raising prices. Additionally, Owens highlighted a line from Google’s technical documents suggesting that complex technical scopes should be hidden from the user on the consent screen. Google responded that this design is intended to consolidate user actions for a better experience, rather than to obscure what users are agreeing to.

The clash highlights broader anxieties over what critics call surveillance pricing, where companies use personal data to dynamically adjust prices for individual buyers. Big Tech companies that build agentic shopping tools have mixed incentives because their business rests on serving sellers and harvesting consumer data. Google itself has faced regulatory scrutiny over its market power; a federal court previously ruled that the company engaged in anticompetitive behavior. This environment creates a potential opening for independent startups like Dupe and Beni to build alternative, consumer-focused shopping tools.

Why it matters

The debate over Google’s new AI shopping protocol underscores broader concerns about how Big Tech companies might use consumer data to influence pricing, a practice critics call surveillance pricing.