Etsy Keeps Human Connection at the Heart of Commerce with Google Cloud AI

Etsy is home to a universe of more than 130 million special, extraordinary goods.

However, this vast, rapidly changing inventory makes it difficult to understand the full breadth of its marketplace, and, more critically, ensure the right pieces find the right person.

Etsy recognized that gen AI is an opportunity to enhance — not replace — the human connection between buyers and sellers, starting with understanding its dynamic inventory.

Google Cloud AI

Etsy is leveraging Google Cloud AI to enhance its e-commerce platform, focusing on personalized and efficient shopping experiences that align with the concept of “Agentic Commerce,” where AI agents autonomously handle tasks to streamline transactions and improve user engagement.

Using gen AI models, including Google’s multimodal Gemini models, Etsy extracts information from images, video, and text to improve the quality and consistency of its product metadata and descriptions, enriching its understanding of its dynamic inventory.

They are also integrating Gen AI across their search and discovery experiences – this helps refine its relevancy algorithms, automatically generate new categories in response to emerging trends, and recognize intent when buyers search for items.

Intelligent Commerce

With a vast inventory of more than 130 million items, Etsy’s greatest challenge is ensuring the right piece finds the right person — especially when inventory data may be limited and changes frequently.

Gen AI models like Gemini are helping power “algotorial” curation — a blend of human and AI-powered recommendations that scales expert-curated collections for trends, styles, and occasions into millions of listings — amplifying curated listings on Etsy by roughly 80x.

Personalized Discovery Experiences

Etsy collaborates with Google Cloud AI to craft more engaging and tailored product discovery experiences. By integrating AI-driven tools, such as those powered by Google’s Vertex AI and BigQuery, Etsy enhances its search capabilities to deliver highly relevant product recommendations to its over 90 million buyers. This personalization ensures that shoppers are presented with items that match their preferences, improving the likelihood of purchase.

Machine Learning for Search and Recommendations

Since migrating its infrastructure to Google Cloud in 2020, Etsy has utilized Google Cloud’s machine learning capabilities, including Vertex AI, to optimize its search algorithms. This allows Etsy to run sophisticated experiments with large datasets, enabling faster and more accurate product sorting and recommendations. For instance, AI helps prioritize relevant items at the top of search results and alerts customers when an item is at risk of selling out, enhancing the shopping experience.

Scalability and Efficiency

Google Cloud’s scalable infrastructure, including Compute Engine and Cloud Run, supports Etsy’s dynamic traffic demands, especially during peak shopping periods like Black Friday. This scalability allows Etsy to handle unpredictable demand surges while maintaining a smooth user experience. By moving away from managing its own data centers, Etsy has shifted 15% of its engineering resources from infrastructure management to customer-focused innovations, many of which are powered by AI.

Conversational Commerce Potential

While not explicitly detailed for Etsy, Google Cloud’s advancements in conversational commerce, such as Vertex AI Search for Commerce, align with Etsy’s goals. These tools enable natural, human-like interactions with customers, potentially assisting shoppers in finding products or answering queries using data from multiple sources. This capability could be integrated into Etsy’s platform to enhance customer service and drive conversions.

Agentic AI Integration

Google Cloud’s Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol and AI Agent Marketplace enable interoperable AI agents that can autonomously perform tasks like transactions and data exchanges. While specific examples of Etsy using A2A are not detailed, its partnership with Google Cloud positions it to potentially adopt such agentic tools for tasks like automated order processing or personalized marketing, further advancing agentic commerce.[]()[]()

Data-Driven Insights

Etsy uses Google Cloud’s BigQuery for advanced analytics, enabling data scientists to run experiments twice as fast as before. This capability supports agentic commerce by allowing Etsy to analyze buyer behavior and optimize product listings in real-time, creating a more responsive and tailored marketplace.

Conclusion

In summary, Etsy’s use of Google Cloud AI focuses on enhancing personalization, optimizing search and recommendations, and improving operational efficiency, all of which contribute to an agentic commerce model where AI autonomously improves the shopping experience.