Google Rolls Out “Purchases,” Their Mobile Buy Buttons

It’s been rumored for a couple of months now, and today Google dropped Purchases on Google. According to TechCrunch.com, you’ll see a ‘buy’ button in some of the promoted mobile search results. When it’s clicked, you jump to a page where you can buy the advertised product. Unlike Amazon Marketplace, Google just hosts the pages…the actual fulfillment will be handled by the merchants running the ad. Right now, there are over a dozen retail partners powering Purchases by Google, but expect many others to join in by year’s end.

A new study from Pew Research and Knight Foundation says Facebook and Twitter users spanning all demographics are increasingly using the social networks as news sources, albeit for different content on each platform. Niemanlab.org reports that 63% of both Twitter and Facebookers get their news from the social nets. That’s up from 52% of Twitter users 2 years ago and 47% of Facebook users. Nearly double the Twitter users follow breaking news…59% as opposed to 31% of Facebook users. Now 10% of American adults get news on Twitter, and about 40% get news from Facebook.