Google will be adding buy now buttons to search results so you do not even have to go onto a vendors website to buy an item. This could potentially mean that you can very quickly and easily make a purchase without doing very much at all.
Some websites are not happy with this idea as this means shoppers will not have any browsing time to see what else the company has to offer. This is similar to having one very well priced item advertised to get shoppers into the shop, with the aim that they will purchase more than just the one item once they are in there. With such a fast and efficient purchase, customers will also not have the full range of item information with lower amounts of detail available in the listing and fewer images and options. Google will also end up with all of the customers information, with the possibility of vendors not having access to all of their customers data.
Google feels the opposite, that people want the most easy and quick route to purchase an item and that this method will encourage users to buy more things. There are people who are reluctant to register their credit card details with lots of different companies and especially companies that they may not have heard of. Using Googles new buy now button will mean that a shopper can just add payment details to their Google account, and in this way buy from a range of different shops without signing up to each one individually. This will make shoppers feel more secure and save them time on shopping.
The change is expected fairly soon. Both Facebook and Twitter introduced similar buttons in recent years and after talks with retailers it seems that Google will soon be following suit
Google buy will only initially be available on mobile devices. It seems that Google certainly feel that the future is mobile, considering recent algorithmic changes and now this mobile exclusive move.