Hello everyone,

For years, online shopping followed the same predictable formula.

Search. Scroll. Compare. Open 15 tabs. Forget what you were buying.

Google just signaled the end of that behavior.

At Google I/O 2026, the company quietly pushed one of its most important AI upgrades yet: an AI-powered shopping experience built directly into Search. Not as a side feature. Not as an experiment.

As the default experience.

And if this works the way Google hopes, it could become the biggest threat Amazon has faced in years.

Traditional e-commerce depends on user effort.

You type keywords. Platforms show products. You manually compare prices, reviews, features, and shipping times.

AI changes that entire workflow.

Instead of browsing products, users now describe intent.

Instead of:

People are starting to ask:

That sounds small.

It isn’t.

Because the platform controlling those answers controls buying decisions.

AD BREAK

In Q1 2026, the non-traded BDC market hit $20.8B in redemption requests — most investors received roughly half of what they asked for. Moody's revised the U.S. BDC sector outlook to Negative. Investors who thought they owned liquid private credit found out their fund manager decided whether they could get out.

On Percent's marketplace that same quarter: new issuances, scheduled payments, and a 0.44% lifetime net loss rate on asset-based deals that's held since inception.†

The difference is structural. BDCs often own concentrated corporate loans with quarterly redemption windows that close at the manager's discretion. Percent finances specialty lenders against pools of performing receivables — diversified, overcollateralized, short duration.

Track record through 3/31/26:†

See what private credit built for individual investors looks like.

^{Alternative investments are speculative. No assurance can be given that investors will receive a return of their capital. Secondary market transactions are subject to availability and issuer approval; liquidity is not guaranteed. †Past performance is not indicative of future results. Terms apply.}

Back to post

Amazon dominates product inventory.

But Google dominates discovery.

That difference matters more in an AI-driven internet.

Here’s the strategic shift happening:

Google already understands billions of user searches every day.

Now it’s combining that search behavior with generative AI, product feeds, maps, reviews, YouTube data, and shopping intent.

That creates something Amazon doesn’t fully own:

Amazon is optimized for buying.

Google is optimized for deciding.

And AI shopping is mostly about decision-making.

Amazon’s biggest strength has always been convenience.

But AI assistants reduce friction before users ever reach Amazon.

That changes the funnel.

Imagine this future workflow:

In that world, Amazon becomes fulfillment infrastructure instead of the starting point.

That’s a dangerous transition.

Because platforms that own discovery usually capture the highest long-term value.

Google knows this.

That’s why shopping AI is being integrated directly into Search instead of launched as a separate app.

This could also reshape affiliate marketing, e-commerce SEO, and review websites.

A massive amount of shopping traffic currently flows through:

But if AI summarizes the answer instantly, fewer users may visit those pages.

We already saw this happen with AI search summaries.

Shopping is next.

Creators and brands may need to optimize for:

The era of low-quality affiliate content could collapse faster than expected.

This isn’t just Google vs Amazon.

It’s the beginning of an entirely new commerce layer.

Every major AI company now wants ownership over:

Whoever controls those layers controls digital commerce.

And right now, the biggest battle isn’t happening in warehouses.

It’s happening inside AI interfaces.

The most important internet companies of the next decade may not be the ones selling products.

They’ll be the ones deciding what people buy before the customer even visits a website.

That’s the real shift Google is betting on.

And Amazon suddenly has a much bigger problem than faster shipping.

What do you think happens next?

Will AI assistants replace traditional shopping apps, or will users still trust marketplaces more?

Reply and share your take. The next phase of internet commerce is already starting.

Catch you next time.