Google has confirmed it will add a buy button to its search results in the near future as the web giant increasingly encroaches on Amazon and eBay’s territory.

Google chief business officer Omid Kordestani revealed the buy button was “imminent” yesterday at the Code Conference in California after unconfirmed reports broke that the feature was imminent.

The development comes shortly after Google announced it was introducing a buy button to YouTube ads.

Google is on the cusp of becoming a retailer in its own right and the introduction of such a button could put it on a collision course with Amazon and eBay’s marketplace businesses.

Previous reports claimed Google’s buy buttons will initially only be available on mobile searches and will appear along paid search ads rather than next to organic search results.

The integration of the new smartphone feature will complement the growth of location-based searches.

Kordestani said the number of location-based searches to help users find something nearby had doubled in the past year.

The YouTube buy button is expected to most benefit impulse purchases. Google believes it will “connect the dots between the moment a person watches a video and the moment they decide to make a purchase”.

Google has been testing its ‘click-to-shop’ YouTube button with online homewares retailer Wayfair and says it has already recorded an improved return on investment.

Wayfair reported a threefold revenue increase per ad impression served compared with its previous campaigns.

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