What Google Shopping Means for Online Retailers and Amazon

With Amazon offering the same services for free, retailers might shy away from Google Shopping at first. Advantage Amazon. But with Google's core competency being web search — and so many retailers pining for search engine optimization value — opinions are bound to change.

The online shopping process is often initiated with a simple search query for whatever pair of shoes, DVD or gadget the consumer might be looking for. With Google Shopping, the entire decision process happens within Google's interface, eliminating the time-consuming process of hunting through dozens of sites to find the right product at the desired price. Yes, shoppers are still required to pay via the merchant's website, but knowing Google, this will likely change. Advantage Google.