Amazon has blocked outside AI shopping bots, while Walmart is letting them in with limits. The split could change the ads, deals and prices you see online.
AI shopping agents, programs that search for products and buy them for you, are starting to arrive. Amazon and Walmart, the two biggest US online ad sellers among retailers, are taking opposite approaches. Amazon has blocked Meta's shopping agent. Walmart has opened the door, with guardrails.
Reuters reports that Amazon has blocked Meta's shopping agent and has challenged other agent tools in court. Walmart went the other way. On October 21, it rolled out tools to support what it calls agentic commerce. A customer can link an agent to their Walmart account, with purchase approvals and spending limits.
Stores sell ad space, like the "sponsored" results at the top of a search. Reuters, citing Emarketer, says Amazon and Walmart control 88% of an estimated $74.4 billion US market for these ads. Those ads work because people see them. A bot does not scroll and does not get tempted. If agents do the browsing, fewer people see the ads, and advertisers may pay less for them.
The shift could be big. Morgan Stanley has said agents could account for 10% to 20% of US online spending by 2030.
The timing is sensitive for Amazon. Reuters cites LSEG data showing its ad revenue grew 11% year over year in the third quarter. That was the slowest pace in nearly four years. Ads are about 10% of its net sales.
Walmart leans on ads too. Its CFO, John David Rainey, said advertising (including Walmart Connect), membership and its marketplace drove 45% of quarterly operating income growth.
Ads may not vanish, but they could look different. Reuters points to more product data that bots can read, and more long-term ad deals instead of bidding for each slot. Dan Marc of Footprints AI expects more multiyear contracts and more discounting as agent-led shopping grows. That could steady retailers' revenue, but it could also limit their upside and squeeze profit margins.
The material does not say how many people use shopping agents today. It also does not say whether prices or deals will change for shoppers. The likely effects on shoppers are indirect, and they depend on how retailers adapt.
If you let a bot shop for you, check what limits and approvals it offers, since Walmart and Amazon are already treating these bots very differently.
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