Google is opening its AI experiences to far more third-party apps, launching a new Connected Apps Platform that lets businesses bring their services directly into Gemini and Google Search. The move, announced on October 28, is Google’s bet on an agentic web where users get things done through AI instead of opening one app at a time.
Google Gemini (Credits: TechCrunch)
Google Connected Apps Platform: What It Does
Connected apps let users securely link and interact with popular third-party services, then use them to take specific actions. The examples Google points to are everyday ones: connect to Canva to design a flyer, or to YouTube Music to build a playlist, without leaving the AI experience.
The idea is a shift in how people discover and use software. Instead of launching individual apps, users could increasingly use their favorite services through an AI assistant, and businesses that want to stay visible will need to be present inside those AI experiences.
How Developers Can Join Google’s Connected Apps Platform
For developers, the path runs through Google’s existing integration routes: building an MCP server or using Android’s AppFunctions APIs, then registering, testing and submitting the app through the Google Connected Console. Developers can choose whether their app appears via Search, the Gemini app, or both.
Once live, developers can track traffic, latency and error rates, and keep control over their brand identity, including verified logos and authenticated accounts. Google frames it as an early version of SEO for the agentic web: just as search rankings once decided which companies got found, presence inside AI assistants could decide who gets used.
Which Apps Are Already Connected to Gemini and Search
Google already has more than 50 connected apps available in Gemini, including partners such as Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton, alongside its own services from Workspace and Photos to YouTube Music and Google Home. Those apps are now coming to Google Search over the next few weeks.
Search currently has fewer integrations, featuring apps like Instacart, Canva, YouTube Music and Yahoo Fantasy Football. Meditation app Calm is another new partner, with its app set to launch on both Gemini and Search soon.
The new platform is in public preview for US developers who sign up for the waitlist. Google has not said when it will become more broadly available, but the direction is clear: as AI agents reshape the web, Google wants Gemini and Search to be the place where apps meet users.
Also Read: Meet Google DeepMind’s Genie 4: Real-Time World Model With Native Audio and Gemini Planning
Source: TechCrunch — read the full story there.
