Google Has Opened Its Connected Apps Platform to Developers. What Does It Mean for Business Websites?

On October 28, 2026, Google launched a preview of its Connected Apps Platform, a single system that lets third-party developers build services directly into Google Search and the Gemini app. The announcement is more than another Gemini feature. It points to a possible shift in how businesses are discovered, how customers interact with digital services, and what a website may need to do in an AI-driven internet.

For decades, the internet has followed a familiar pattern: search for something, click a website, and complete an action. Google's latest announcement suggests parts of that pattern could change.

From search engine to action engine

Traditional search engines have acted as gateways. A user searches for a restaurant, finds a website, checks the menu and books. Someone looking for a product compares websites and proceeds to checkout.

AI-powered search introduces another possibility: completing parts of that journey without moving between separate interfaces. Connected Apps are built for exactly that. Google says they let people do things like order groceries or make playlists inside Search and the Gemini app. In Search today, integrations include Instacart, Canva, YouTube Music and Yahoo Fantasy Football, according to TechCrunch.

The October announcement expands the developer infrastructure behind these experiences, which could make it easier for more businesses to take part.

What exactly did Google announce?

The new platform gives developers one environment to build, register, test and manage integrations that work with Search, Gemini, or both. Until now, according to 9to5Google, creating a Connected App has required working closely with Google.

Key points from Google's announcement:

• Build once, reach both. Developers can build an app for Search and the Gemini app, and choose before review whether it goes live in one or both.
• Established technology. Developers integrate with a cloud-hosted Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, or Android MCP using the AppFunctions APIs.
• One console. The Google Connected Console handles registration, testing and submission.
• Performance tracking. Developers can monitor traffic, latency and error rates.
• Brand control. Apps can show verified logos and support authenticated accounts.

Google says it has launched more than 50 Connected Apps across Search and Gemini, in areas from productivity and event ticketing to health and fitness. Partners including Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton are live in Gemini and are coming to Search in the coming weeks, with Calm launching on both. 9to5Google lists services such as Dropbox, OpenTable and Ticketmaster among the existing integrations.

Access is limited. TechCrunch reports the preview is a beta for developers in the US, who join through a waitlist, and Google has not said when it will be more broadly available. Google says it will add more developers, markets and Google products over the coming months.

Why this could be bigger than another AI feature

The most important part is not the number of apps. It is the changing relationship between discovery and interaction.

A business website normally attracts visitors, communicates services, builds trust and converts customers. Connected Apps raise the possibility that some of those interactions begin inside an AI assistant.

Imagine searching for a hotel. Instead of opening several websites and booking forms, an assistant might eventually coordinate parts of the process through connected services. Or imagine a professional-services firm whose prospective client checks consultation availability from an AI conversation. These are illustrative possibilities, not capabilities Google has confirmed for every business or industry.

The direction still matters. The internet may be moving from a collection of destinations towards a network of services that AI assistants can interact with. TechCrunch frames the premise the same way: such integrations could shift consumer behaviour from opening individual apps to using favourite services through a preferred AI provider.

What happens to business websites?

Not necessarily obsolescence. Websites still carry brand credibility, storytelling, detailed research, legal information and customer relationships. A connected app can help someone complete a specific task, but it cannot automatically replace the experience of understanding a business.

Consider an architecture firm. An assistant might help a prospective client book a consultation, but exploring the portfolio, the design philosophy and the thinking behind projects still benefits from a carefully designed digital environment. The same applies to luxury hospitality, premium real estate, healthcare and other industries where trust and presentation shape decisions.

The more interesting question is whether websites will remain the only way customers interact with businesses online. Google's announcement suggests the answer may increasingly be no.

The rise of AI-ready digital infrastructure

For businesses, the implications go beyond how a website looks. An AI-connected ecosystem adds new technical considerations.

1. Structured services and accessible functionality

If AI systems are to perform authorised actions, a business needs reliable ways to expose them: checking availability, retrieving product information or submitting a service request. Google's platform uses MCP, an open protocol for connecting AI applications with external tools and data, which gives businesses with suitable services and technical capability another integration route.

2. Consistent information across platforms

A website, product catalogue, booking system and connected app should present accurate, consistent information. Conflicting prices, outdated availability or mismatched service descriptions damage trust whether the interaction happens on a website or through an assistant.

3. Secure customer interactions

Connected Apps support authenticated accounts, which means they may act on a user's behalf subject to authorisation. That makes authentication, permission management, privacy and reliable error handling essential.

4. Brand identity beyond the website

When customers interact through an AI interface, a company's website design may not be visible at all. Recognition may depend on the company's name, its verified identity, and the reliability of the experience. Google's verified logos are one example of how brand control is being handled. The branding challenge is keeping a distinctive identity when much of the interface belongs to another platform.

Is this the next evolution of SEO?

SEO has traditionally been about making websites discoverable in search results. AI-powered search adds new questions. What happens when an assistant can recommend a service and start an action without the usual results journey? Could businesses compete not just for rankings but for visibility inside AI-powered recommendations?

TechCrunch suggests Connected Apps could be one of the first steps for businesses that want their services visible on the agentic web, much as SEO was for search rankings. That is a reasonable reading, but it should be handled carefully. Google has not publicly set out a ranking system for Connected Apps or explained how competing services will be chosen for a request. It would be premature to claim a business needs a Connected App to rank, or that traditional SEO is being replaced.

The more defensible conclusion is that search visibility and service accessibility may become increasingly linked. A website remains important for discovery and research, and an AI-connected service may offer another route to completing a request. The long-term opportunity may be to support both.

The opportunities and the risks

Google's approach could open new distribution for software companies and service providers. A developer may eventually reach users through Google products without requiring them to find, install and open a standalone app first. For smaller businesses, that is particularly interesting.

Several questions remain open:

• Who controls the customer relationship? When an interaction begins in Google's interface, businesses need to understand how customer data, branding and ongoing relationships are handled.
• How will competing services be selected? Google has not given a comprehensive public explanation.
• What will participation cost? The announcement does not state a pricing structure.
• How widely will it be available? The preview is US-only for now and phased, with more developers, markets and products to come.

These matter because success will depend not only on technical integration but on whether taking part delivers measurable business value.

What businesses should do right now

For most companies, this is a reason to pay attention, not a reason to rebuild a website immediately. The practical starting point is the quality of existing digital infrastructure. Make sure your website communicates services clearly, performs reliably on mobile, and gives customers straightforward ways to enquire or buy.

Companies running booking platforms, e-commerce systems or digital products can start checking whether their services have well-structured APIs and secure authentication. Those capabilities are valuable regardless of Google's announcement. Developers who want to take part can sign up for the preview and read the documentation at developers.google.com/connected-apps.

The aim is to prepare for interoperability without making expensive assumptions about a platform whose wider rollout is still developing.

The future of digital experiences may not begin on a website

The traditional internet has been organised around destinations: websites, apps and platforms people move between. AI-powered interfaces introduce another model, in which people express intentions and connected services help carry them out.

That does not remove the need for strong digital design. It widens its scope. Businesses may need experiences that work across their own websites, mobile apps, AI assistants and connected services. The brands that succeed will not necessarily abandon websites in favour of AI. They may be the ones that combine distinctive brand experiences with flexible, reliable digital infrastructure.

Final thoughts

Google's October 28 announcement is not the end of traditional search or the death of business websites. It is another step towards an internet where discovering a business and using its services can happen in the same AI-powered experience.

For designers, developers and business owners, the lesson is to think beyond individual pages and platforms. A modern digital presence is becoming an interconnected system of identity, content, functionality and customer experience. The question may shift from "How do we get people to visit our website?" to something broader: how do we make our business accessible, useful and recognisable wherever our customers choose to interact?