Google is adding a buy button to search results, letting shoppers purchase products directly without having to visit a separate site.
The new feature was introduced at Google’s I/O developer a conference in California, in an attempt to counter the threat of Amazon, which has seen searches for products through its website rise.
Clicking the Buy Now button next to a shopping search result would link to a Google transaction page to complete the purchase and enter specific details.
Merchants are thought to still retain customer information including email addresses, and handle postage themselves.
“There’s going to be a buy button. It’s going to be imminent,” Google’s chief business officer Omid Kordestani said, speaking at the Code Conference in California.
The introduction of the new feature would encourage internet users to spend longer on Google’s own pages, as opposed to rival sites. It is unknown how soon Google is planning to roll out the new button.
Kordestani also noted that about nine out of 10 purchases are still made offline.
He added that the number of location-based searches to help users find something close to them had doubled in the past year.
Getting users to buy products as a result of searching is a key revenue earner for Google which currently charges retailers a premium to appear in a prominent position on the results page following a relevant search query.