RANCHOS PALOS VERDES, CALIFORNIA -- Google is thisclose to removing one step out of your online buying process and, quite possibly, taking a chunk out of Amazon's online shopping business.
Google SVP and Chief Business Officer Omid Kordestani revealed on Wednesday at Re/Code's Code Conference that Google is planning to introduce an integrated "Buy" button on mobile search results, and that its arrival is imminent. The news comes a week after a report in the Wall Street Journal said the search giant wanted to add the button to the "Shop on Google" box that already appears alongside paid search results.
Kordestani didn't offer much detail beyond the acknowledgement that Google is working on such a button, but when it arrives, even if only for a limited set of search results, the button could be the start of something big.
Right now, if you perform a product search on Google, one of your top results will typically be from Amazon. You then click, visit Amazon and buy there. A Google Buy button, cuts out the click and puts the shopping experience in Google's hands.
It's likely that we'll get a lot more detail about the new feature, like whether it's for mobile only and how Google will get paid for these links, on Thursday when Google I/O kicks off in San Francisco.
Google's plans are not that surprising when you consider the growth Google is seeing in all things mobile. In fact, Kordestani said that Google is seeing the highest growth "in mobile, in video, in programmatic."
Not that search isn't still at the center of Google's business. "Our mission is still organizing the world's information," Kordestani said.