The holidays are just around the corner and that probably means you’ll be doing a lot of shopping in the coming weeks. Google is doing its best to make that shopping experience a little easier, especially if you prefer shopping in person to online, with some new features hitting Google Lens and Google Pay before the holidays.
Better shop through Google Lens
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According to Google, Google Lens performs approximately 20 billion visual searches every month, and about 20% of those are shopping-related. Today’s update helps make Lens more useful by giving you insights tailored to the store you’re currently in, so you can make informed decisions.
How does this work? All you have to do is take a photo and Google Lens can find information about that product, provide you with similar in-stock alternatives, determine whether or not the price is competitive, and even show reviews from other buyers .
These new features are made possible by significant improvements in Google’s AI image recognition technology. It’s powered by the Google Shopping Graph’s more than 45 billion product listings, inventory data from various retailers, and Google’s Gemini models. Google claims that 72% of Americans use their… smartphone while shopping, and more than 50% say they leave without purchasing anything because they weren’t sure at the time whether to make the purchase. Google Lens aims to help shoppers make informed decisions on the spot.
If you’d like to try this feature out for yourself, it works with beauty products, toys, and electronics in stores that currently share their inventory data with Google. To use it, select the Lens icon in the Google app search bar. This is available for both the Android And iOS versions of the app and require sharing location data.
A safer way to pay
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Secondly, Google is also making it easier to pay for your Christmas purchases. Earlier in 2024, Google introduced new buy-now-pay-later options in Google Pay through a partnership with Affirm and Zip. Google is now adding another partner to the list: Afterpay, which will be available soon. Moreover, Klarna is coming in 2025.
Google also makes your information even more secure through Google Pay by using virtual cards. These virtual cards already hide your American Express, Capital One, or Citi card number when you use them for online transactions, reducing the risk of fraud. Now Google is also adding Discover to the list.
For merchants, Google is testing a new service to better identify and track fraudulent transactions and prevent fraudsters from using stolen information. The service also unblocks legitimate transactions that could be mistaken as fraud.