{"slug": "retail-roundup-googles-new-ai-tools-and-kroger-grows-ad-revenue", "title": "Retail Roundup: Google’s New AI Tools, and Kroger Grows Ad Revenue", "summary": "Google rolled out new AI-powered shopping tools ahead of the holidays, including AI performance insights in Merchant Center and expanded capabilities for its Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), according to Adweek's retail roundup. The update also adds tools to help merchants understand how consumers discover products through conversational experiences. The same roundup noted Kroger grew its advertising revenue.", "body_md": "Commerce media is moving deeper into the transaction.\n\nThis week brought another wave of AI-powered shopping announcements. But the bigger story may be what’s happening underneath: Retailers are integrating advertising, loyalty, commerce, and measurement.\n\n#### 1. Google rolls out AI tools ahead of the holidays\n\nGoogle is opening up more AI-powered shopping ahead of the holidays.\n\nNew updates include AI performance insights in Merchant Center, a tool that manages brands’ ecommerce catalog to show products across Google’s properties.\n\nGoogle also expanded the capabilities of [Universal Commerce Protocol (](https://www.adweek.com/commerce/google-and-walmart-join-forces-to-shape-the-future-of-retail/)UCP), and unveiled new tools designed to help merchants understand how consumers are discovering products through conversational experiences.\n\n## UNLOCK FULL ACCESS\n\nSubscribe and get full access to the news, insights, and expertise that keep industry professionals ahead of the curve.\n\n[VIEW ALL SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS](https://www.adweek.com/subscription/)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/retail-roundup-googles-new-ai-tools-and-kroger-grows-ad-revenue", "canonical_source": "https://www.adweek.com/commerce/retail-roundup-googles-new-ai-tools-and-kroger-grows-ad-revenue/", "published_at": "2026-09-18 06:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-18 10:25:26.910502+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-products", "generative-engine-optimization", "ai-search", "agent-protocols"], "entities": ["Google", "Merchant Center", "Universal Commerce Protocol", "Kroger", "Adweek"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/retail-roundup-googles-new-ai-tools-and-kroger-grows-ad-revenue", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/retail-roundup-googles-new-ai-tools-and-kroger-grows-ad-revenue.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/retail-roundup-googles-new-ai-tools-and-kroger-grows-ad-revenue.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/retail-roundup-googles-new-ai-tools-and-kroger-grows-ad-revenue.jsonld"}}