Google India 2023: Generative Search to Enhance Shopping and Empower Small Businesses

The 9th edition of Google’s event in India, known as Google for India 2023, occurred on October 19. The event emphasized the influence of generative AI and the achievements Google has made with this advancing technology. Google expressed its commitment to overcoming obstacles for its users in India, with a specific focus on enhancing the shopping experience. Through the Google Search Generative Experience (SGE), both shoppers and small merchants are expected to benefit from these efforts.

Shivani Mohan, Senior Director, UX Research, Google, took to the stage to talk about the India-centric changes that were added to SGE to make it more relevant to users in the country. He said: “Gen AI is helping us once again reimagine what a search engine can do by changing the way information is organized”.

Google SGE improves the shopping experience

The first improvement makes Google search more visual for shopping. SGE creates easy-to-follow responses and visual responses to help shoppers easily find the product they’re looking for. Mohan said users will soon be able to explore places and things to do near their location using SGE. It also includes user reviews.

At the same time, Google is expanding small business discovery to engage customers and help them get to the center of digital commerce. As part of this initiative, Google is rolling out Business Messages in search for shopping. Users can scroll down Search to click on the chat icon and ask the questions on their mind directly to the merchant. It is expected to be available by the end of the year.

The company is also launching Google Merchant Center Next. With it, nearby physical stores are better visible in the search. Small businesses have limited resources, making it difficult to build high-quality lists. This new tool solves that. It has already started rolling out to new users. It will be available to everyone early next year.