Google has launched its Connected Apps Platform, allowing businesses and developers to integrate their services directly into Google's AI experiences across Search and Gemini, according to an announcement published on TechCrunch today. The platform, now available in beta for U.S. developers, lets users link third-party apps and take actions through Google's AI tools — designing flyers in Canva, building playlists in YouTube Music, or managing other services without launching separate apps. The move signals Google's push to position itself as a gateway for what the company calls the "agentic web," where consumers interact with services through AI interfaces rather than individual applications.
Google already offers more than 50 connected apps within Gemini, featuring partners like Adobe, Experian, Localiza, and Peloton, alongside its own suite of services including Workplace, Photos, YouTube Music, and Google Home. These integrations will roll out to Google Search over the coming weeks. Search currently supports fewer connections, with apps such as Instacart, Canva, YouTube Music, and Yahoo Fantasy Football available. Meditation app Calm is joining as a new partner and will launch on both Gemini and Search soon. The platform preview is accessible to U.S. developers who join the waitlist, though Google hasn't announced when broader availability will begin.
To participate, developers must integrate with a cloud-hosted MCP (Model Context Protocol) server or Android MCP using the AppFunctions APIs, then register, test, and submit their app through the Google Connected Console, the company explains. Developers can select whether their app appears via Search, the Gemini app, or both. Once live, they can monitor traffic, latency, and error rates while maintaining control over brand elements like verified logos and authenticated accounts. According to the report, this approach mirrors how SEO allowed companies to optimize their visibility in search engine rankings, potentially serving as "one of the initial steps for businesses that want their services to be more visible to users on the agentic web."
The underlying premise is that these integrations could shift how consumers interact with technology — moving away from opening individual apps toward using services through their preferred AI provider, the report notes. Similar strategies have emerged from other consumer-facing AI services like ChatGPT and Meta's Muse. But success hinges on breadth: to capture and hold consumers' attention, AI platforms need a wide range of connected apps to explore. Google's solution is to open its doors to any business or developer wanting to reach users through its AI experiences, letting them submit their own integrations and track performance. The platform gives developers a new distribution channel while offering Google a way to make its AI tools more useful and sticky — a strategy that could redefine how software reaches users in an AI-driven internet. Whether developers adopt the platform at scale remains the open question, though early interest from established brands suggests momentum is building.