Google's bid to battle Amazon hits hurdle as Walmart leaves it high and dry

Losing Walmart, the world's largest retailer, is a blow for Google. Walmart has emerged as one of Amazon's main e-commerce competitors

Walmart Inc. has quietly withdrawn from one of Google’s marquee efforts to challenge Amazon.com Inc. in e-commerce.

Walmart removed its products from Google’s Shopping Actions service, the internet giant said on Thursday. The retailer also recently dropped out of Google Express, a related delivery service.

In March, Google unveiled Shopping Actions, which lets consumers more easily buy goods from retailers through the company’s search engine, digital assistant and Express delivery. The service launched with Walmart and Target Corp. as flagship partners, an alliance that showed the retail stalwarts attempting to curb Amazon’s expansion. Google takes a commission on sales from