On October 28, Google turned a hand-picked list of AI partners into an application process. The company opened a preview of its Connected Apps Platform, a single route for outside developers to build services directly into Google Search and the Gemini app.
What launched
Developers now get a Google Connected Console where they can register, test and submit apps for review. Before review, they choose whether each app appears in Search, Gemini, or both. Google calls this “build once and reach high-intent users across both Search and the Gemini app,” in a post from product leads Chips Mistry and Mai Lowe.
The technical path runs on the Model Context Protocol, the open standard Anthropic introduced in November 2024. Brands can expose discrete actions — checking inventory, placing a booking, starting a workout — through a cloud-hosted MCP server or an Android MCP integration using the AppFunctions APIs. Once approved, the developer controls the publish moment, but Google remains the gatekeeper.
Why it matters
Google says more than 50 Connected Apps are already live, with Adobe, Calm, Experian, Localiza and Peloton among the named partners. Adobe, Experian and Peloton are due to reach Search in the coming weeks after rolling out in Gemini; Calm is launching across both surfaces.
The Gemini side is the sharper opportunity. Alphabet reported 950 million monthly users for the Gemini app in July, and Google has repeatedly said there are no ads there. Without paid placement, being a connected app is one of the few ways a brand can show up at the moment someone asks for something it sells. Search is different: AI Mode already carries ads, and Google’s October 16 privacy policy lets connected Google content influence ad personalization for users who opt in.
What to do now
Treat the preview as an integration test rather than a proven growth channel. Map the user jobs your app could complete inside an AI assistant, then prepare the action layer before access widens.
- Audit discrete actions: search inventory, check dates, make a booking, renew a subscription.
- Check the Connected Apps sign-up and documentation as phases open.
- Run MCP as your integration layer if you already maintain an AI-ready server.
The gaps to watch
Google did not announce fees, market availability or how it will route a request between competing apps. The console reports traffic, latency and error rates — engineering metrics, not marketing outcomes. There is no conversion or revenue reporting, and no described link to Google Ads or Analytics. If two ticketing apps are connected, nobody outside Google knows which one gets the call.
That routing rule could become the new ranking. For now, the move to watch is the shift from partnership batches to a review queue: Google has opened the door, but it still decides who walks through.
Source: PPC Land
