Google hopes to gobble up e-comm giants with ‘buy’ button

Internet giant Google is planning to open up its search pages for consumers to buy online bypassing e-commerce majors such as Amazon, Flipkart and Alibaba.

Google will add a new ''buy'' button on its search pages, which will allow users to directly order products they are looking for from the Google's search page.

Initially, Google will offer the facility through a product query on its search engine that leads to a page which has offers from various e-commerce sites.

Google's search engine throws up various options on where to buy the particular product, including links leading to Amazon or eBay.

With the addition of the 'buy' button, users will be able to buy the product from the search page itself.

The ''buy'' button is still in the works and it is still not known how Google plans to tie up the back-end logistics.

If Google indeed brings online buyers on its website it could stop users and advertising revenues from flowing into rival e-commerce sites.

The rising e-commerce tide is moving more and more people to niche e-commerce sites while searching for specific producs.

Google is reported to have confirmed that it will soon give people the ability to buy products directly from its search page (See: Google to add "Shop" button to Search).

''There is going to be a buy button, it is actually imminent,'' said Omid Kordestani, Google's chief business officer, speaking at a technology conference on Wednesday.

For example, homes, automobiles, travel, etc, all have niche website, consumers still generally search on aggregator sites.

But if these are directly sold on the Google search page then the search engine site will start driving e-commerce revenues.

''There is going to be a buy button, it is actually imminent,'' said Omid Kordestani, Google's chief business officer, speaking at a technology conference on Wednesday.

The new button is expected to be launched on mobile platforms, according to sources close to the development. This will allow people who click on product ads in search results to buy those products without having to navigate to a third-party site.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the buy buttons would arrive in the coming weeks.

The buttons, following similar moves by Facebook and Twitter, are a significant departure for the search giant, which has built its business based on links to other web sites.

The goal is to reduce ''friction,'' said Kordestani, making it simpler to complete online purchases.

Google is facing significant competition from Amazon, where many people now begin their searches for specific products. It is often easier to complete purchases on Amazon, thanks to its one-click ordering technology, wide selection and fast shipping, than it is to click back and forth from third-party sites discovered on Google.

The more searches that start on Amazon, the fewer clicks go on Google's search ads, which drive the vast majority of the company's revenue and profits.

Google is likely to launch the ''buy'' button first in the US in the second half of this year and then expand to other countries, including India.