Hard-to-Keyword
RSS FeedI'm Eric Cheung, a product manager working on agentic commerce at eBay, previously at Google Shopping. I write about Hard-to-Keyword demand: the shopping intent people never typed into a search box. Views are my own.
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The "Hard-to-Keyword"
Updated:EssayTyped search queries are survivors. Twenty years of e-commerce trained buyers to shrink what they wanted into whatever the product index could match, and the rest never reached the logs.
Recent Posts
Who wants agentic commerce less: consumers or retailers?
Shoppers stop trusting AI agents right before payment, and retailers block them to protect ads. Six data points on who wants agentic commerce less.
Visa benchmark finds AI models failed 42.8% of shopping test runs
Visa released the Visa Agentic Commerce Benchmark, which tested 22 AI models from 12 labs on 15 shopping challenges.
Google rolls out UCP-powered direct checkout to shoppers in Canada
Google began rolling out direct checkout powered by the Universal Commerce Protocol to Canadian shoppers in AI Mode.
Google's Q3: query growth and Search revenue are two different numbers
Alphabet's Q3 shows Hard-to-Keyword demand reaching Google Search. Why query growth and Search revenue are different numbers, from an ex-Google Shopping PM.
DoorDash ships an MCP interface so external AI agents can order
DoorDash said in its third-quarter 2026 results, filed with the SEC, that it shipped a Model Context Protocol interface that connects with external AI agents, including those companies use for corporate ordering.
Alphabet Q3: Search queries grow fastest in five years as Search revenue growth slows
Alphabet reported that Google Search & other revenue grew 12% to $63.4 billion in the third quarter of 2026, with year-over-year query growth the highest in five years even as Search revenue growth slowed from Q2.