Google has released the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard targeting next-generation commerce environments. UCP is a technology standard designed to connect product search and payment in a single flow within a conversational AI environment. Its core goal is to simplify the structure, enabling consumer interfaces, payment providers, and distributors to connect with a common language.
UCP was developed primarily by Google and has been supported by major e-commerce companies such as Shopify, Etsy, Walmart, and Target. Furthermore, over 20 global partners, including Mastercard, Visa, Stripe, and Zalando, have expressed their support.
This protocol is designed to operate on top of, rather than replace, existing commerce infrastructure. Merchants remain the selling party and control their own business logic and payment experience. It also supports standardized APIs, inter-agent communication methods, and the Model Context Protocol, enabling integration with diverse technology stacks.
Google explains that the evolution of the consumer experience is the driving force behind the emergence of UCP. Users expect to discover products through search and conversation and then immediately proceed to purchase, but existing systems required individual integrations for each platform, limiting scalability. UCP consolidates this complexity into a single, integrated layer, standardizing the entire process from real-time inventory checks to price calculations and order management.
Security is also a key feature. By separating payment methods and payment processors, we've enabled the coexistence of various payment services. All payment authorization processes include cryptographic proof of user consent. This ensures reliability even in agent-based payment environments.
Google is unveiling the first reference implementation of UCP, featuring AI-powered search and the ability to purchase directly from the Gemini app. Users can complete payments without additional input using their pre-registered Google Pay, and merchants can participate through Merchant Center integration.
UCP is an open-source standard, independent of any specific company. Google has released the specification and sample code on GitHub, hoping that developers and companies will expand upon it together. This marks the emergence of a new common language for commerce, geared toward an era where AI agents perform real-world purchases.
