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Google AI Mode shows same products 21.6% more expensive than traditional search

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Re: Google AI Mode shows same products 21.6% more expensive than traditional search

#71

Post by Legend2440 »

danvayn wrote: post #17
Sharlin wrote: post #4

Hey, that's actually a pretty useful feature if it helps discourage people from buying so much stuff!

The general implication is the opposite effect. The corporation wants to make more money. They make larger margins with this of course. But beyond that, the implication is that whatever sales are lost from the more expensive price are simply made up otherwise. If products are 20% more expensive but this only results in 10-15% less sales, the corporation is still very happy, particularly due to the margin bit. If loss…

>If products are 20% more expensive but this only results in 10-15% less sales, the corporation is still very happy, particularly due to the margin bit.

If they could have made more money by raising prices 20%, they would already have done so.

Sellers can set their prices to whatever they want, AI mode or not.

Re: Google AI Mode shows same products 21.6% more expensive than traditional search

#72

Post by Legend2440 »

autoexec wrote: post #50
lennart-rth wrote: post #45

I wonder when dynamic pricing based on the users chat history will be a thing. The users context based of LLM conversation should be way more detailed compared to traditional cookie tracking. Also buyers manipulation could be done at some point. Pretty scary to think about

dynamic/discriminatory pricing will be based on your chat history, your search history, your location, your purchase history, and every and any other data point that can be leveraged against you. Buying something near the birthday of a loved one? Expect prices to go up. Haven't driven in two days when you usually would have and now you're looking for a car part? Expect your prices to go up. Got a new job where you ma…

Keep in mind that there is still a downwards force on prices from competition.

More information does not necessarily help AutoZone raise prices because (1. everybody already knows that people who buy car parts are likely trying to fix their car and (2. other sellers will undercut them and they will miss out on sales.

Re: Google AI Mode shows same products 21.6% more expensive than traditional search

#73

Post by Legend2440 »

heavenlyblue wrote: post #63
autoexec wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

dynamic/discriminatory pricing will be based on your chat history, your search history, your location, your purchase history, and every and any other data point that can be leveraged against you. Buying something near the birthday of a loved one? Expect prices to go up. Haven't driven in two days when you usually would have and now you're looking for a car part? Expect your prices to go up. Got a new job where you ma…

Let's get it to the next level: shopping for a present for your friend whose birthday is in 5 months? Still higher prices because they can use yiur early reminder to know you'll need that.

How exactly does this help them?

There is a lot of competition in the gift/trinket space. You could buy that birthday present from any number of sellers. If seller #183 jacks up prices, you will go buy from seller #765 instead.

Re: Google AI Mode shows same products 21.6% more expensive than traditional search

#74

Post by Legend2440 »

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #15

So are companies paying more to have products featured in AI mode rather than just plain search? It sucks that Google seem to be phasing out plain search - for some specialized searches it ONLY gives me AI mode results, which are useless, and I have to go to Bing instead.

>So are companies paying more to have products featured in AI mode rather than just plain search?

No - in fact, the results listed in the article are not paid ads.

You only can pay to be in the 'sponsored results' section at the bottom of the AI mode results.

Re: Google AI Mode shows same products 21.6% more expensive than traditional search

#75

Post by throwitaway222 »

That's really weird - I was trying to give my wife prices for a salad the other day, and it was showing 18.99 on the summary I was reading aloud (she was driving).

When we got to the restaurant she pointed out the salads were all 14.99 not 18.99. WTH? I'm assuming AI is showing some doordash price instead. We were driving there to pick it up in person.

Re: Google AI Mode shows same products 21.6% more expensive than traditional search

#77

Post by autoexec »

Legend2440 wrote: post #72
autoexec wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

dynamic/discriminatory pricing will be based on your chat history, your search history, your location, your purchase history, and every and any other data point that can be leveraged against you. Buying something near the birthday of a loved one? Expect prices to go up. Haven't driven in two days when you usually would have and now you're looking for a car part? Expect your prices to go up. Got a new job where you ma…

Keep in mind that there is still a downwards force on prices from competition. More information does not necessarily help AutoZone raise prices because (1. everybody already knows that people who buy car parts are likely trying to fix their car and (2. other sellers will undercut them and they will miss out on sales.

> everybody already knows that people who buy car parts are likely trying to fix their car

But people who only have one car can probably be forced to pay more than someone who is buying a part for a second car. Someone with more money in their bank account can afford to pay higher prices. More information might not always help them in every case, but it doesn't have to as long as it can help them enough of the time. Companies expect to make massive increases in profits by introducing discriminatory pricing.

Other sellers want to maximize the amount of money they can squeeze out of their customers too so they will use whatever information they have to set prices as high as they can get away with. Some places may not jump on discriminatory pricing as quickly, but consumers don't always shop around either and the companies making money hand over fist by jacking up their prices will be able to pay for more ads and better rankings in search results.

Re: Google AI Mode shows same products 21.6% more expensive than traditional search

#79

Post by autoexec »

Legend2440 wrote: post #73
heavenlyblue wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's get it to the next level: shopping for a present for your friend whose birthday is in 5 months? Still higher prices because they can use yiur early reminder to know you'll need that.

How exactly does this help them? There is a lot of competition in the gift/trinket space. You could buy that birthday present from any number of sellers. If seller #183 jacks up prices, you will go buy from seller #765 instead.

That's not how consumers work. The vast majority of the time they just buy whatever amazon shows them as the first result. They aren't comparison shopping at all. Even for consumers who do comparison shop it won't matter much when every major retailer, website, and grocery store is also setting personalized prices based on what they know about you.
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