Google adds new ways to shop, like turning a website’s photos into shoppable products

Google today introduced new ways to shop through its platform, including both online and via its Google Search mobile app. In an update coming soon to the Google Search app for iPhone, the company will begin to leverage a new machine learning model using on-device processing to recognize the products found in images on a website to make them instantly “shoppable.” It will also make it easier for online shoppers to browse for clothing and accessories from the search results and check for in-stock items at local stores.

On the Google mobile app for iOS, users will soon see a new button that turns the images on a website into shoppable products through Google Lens. That means, if you’re browsing a website and something catches your eye in a photograph, you can click to see where to buy the item in question. This sort of feature is an expansion of the existing Google Lens technology, which can already identify products in images. It’s just adding it to a new context.

Google Lens will also come to Chrome on the desktop, Google says, allowing users to select the images, video and text content on a website with Lens to see the search results in the same tab.

In another update, when you’re browsing for clothing, shoes and accessories on mobile, Google will make it easier to shop from its Search results.

Here, it will display a visual feed of products matching your query — like “cropped jackets,” for example — in multiple colors and styles. And it will show you style guides, videos and details on where you can buy the items locally. You can also filter the results by style, department, brand and more, plus check ratings and reviews and compare prices.

Image Credits: Google

Google notes this experience is powered by its “Shopping Graph,” a real-time data set of product inventory that today consists of more than 24 billion listings.

This will also help shoppers when they’re looking to buy in-person, as you can select an “in stock” filter to see which nearby stores have your item available right now. This could be particularly useful ahead of the busy holiday shopping season to help people shop for gifts and children’s toys.

The updates were announced today at Google’s Search On event, where the company also detailed other product updates to Maps, Lens and Search, including those that leverage new AI enhancements.