Google today opened a preview of its Connected Apps Platform, a single route for outside developers to build their services into both Google Search and the Gemini app. The announcement, posted on Google’s blog by Chips Mistry, Group Product Manager for Search, and Mai Lowe, Group Product Manager for the Gemini app, introduces a Google Connected Console where developers register, test and submit apps for review, and choose which of the two products each app appears in. Google also said it has now launched more than 50 Connected Apps across Search and Gemini, naming Adobe, Calm, Experian, Localiza and Peloton among its partners. Access is opening in phases, and the post gives no fees, no list of markets and no account of how Google decides which app handles a request.
In Short
Google is letting more companies build their apps into Google Search and the Gemini assistant, so people can do things like book a table or plan a workout without leaving Google. That matters to any business with an app, because these connected apps are the ones Search and Gemini can hand a task to when someone asks for help. For now it is a preview that opens in stages, and Google has not said what it costs, how it picks between competing apps, or what user data changes hands.
What Google launched today
The post is short. Dated October 28, 2026, carrying a three-minute read time and filed under Developer tools, Search and Gemini App, it runs to five paragraphs under the headline “Build and manage Connected Apps in one place.” Two announcements share the space: a developer platform, and a new set of consumer integrations.
On the first, the wording is direct. “To help users get more done, today we’re launching the preview of our Connected Apps Platform, a unified way for more app developers to bring their capabilities directly into Gemini and Search,” according to the post. Google frames the platform as a consolidation, describing it in the summary line as “a single place to build and manage apps for Search and the Gemini app.”
The operative word is preview. “We’re opening access in phases, and will add more developers, markets, and Google products over the coming months,” the post states, pointing developers to a sign-up and documentation at developers.google.com/connected-apps. The announcement does not say how many developers are admitted in the first phase, which countries or languages are covered, or when the preview ends. The reference to adding “Google products” in the plural suggests the platform is meant to reach beyond Search and Gemini at some point, though the post names no other product.
How the platform works
Two ways in
The technical description fits in a single sentence. “Developers integrate with a cloud-hosted MCP server or Android MCP using the AppFunctions APIs, then use the Google Connected Console to register, test, and submit their app,” according to Google.
Both routes rest on the Model Context Protocol, the open standard Anthropic introduced in November 2024 for connecting AI models to outside tools and data. An MCP server publishes a list of “tools” – discrete actions such as searching inventory, checking availability or placing a booking – which an AI model can call on a user’s behalf. Google’s platform accepts that standard rather than asking developers to adopt a proprietary format, which in principle lets a company reuse a server it already runs for other AI assistants.
The two paths are different in kind. A cloud-hosted MCP server is infrastructure the developer operates on the open internet. Android MCP with the AppFunctions APIs, by its name, runs through the developer’s Android app. The post does not explain how the Android route behaves when a request comes from Search on a desktop computer, or from Gemini on an iPhone, or whether some features are available only through one path.
The console
The Google Connected Console is new, and the post shows it rather than describes it. In the interface Google published, an events-and-ticketing app called Tixframe sits in a test state marked “Available to testers,” with 12 testers assigned and an update stamped Oct 28, 2026. A panel headed “MCP and tools setup” reports the MCP connection as “Connected” with “5 tools synced.” A separate “Releases” panel spells out the sequence: “Once you’re happy with your Connected app, send it to Google for review. Once approved, you control when it’s published to users.”
That sequence places Google as a gatekeeper. Nothing goes live without review, though the developer, not Google, decides the publishing moment once approval is granted.
Choosing surfaces and tracking performance
One decision is made before review. “Before review, developers choose whether it will go live in Search, the Gemini app, or both,” according to the post. The pitch to developers is that a single build covers both. The platform, Google says, “gives developers the opportunity to build once and reach high-intent users across both Search and the Gemini app.” No figure accompanies “high-intent,” and the post does not say how many people use Connected Apps today.
After launch, the reporting is operational. “Once live, you can track traffic, latency, and error rates, and keep control of your brand identity, including verified logos and authenticated accounts,” the post states. Traffic, latency and error rates are the measures an engineering team watches to keep a service running. The post mentions no conversion data, no revenue reporting and no visibility into which user requests triggered an app.
More than 50 apps, counted differently each time
The second half of the post concerns the apps users can reach. “We’ve launched more than 50 Connected Apps between Search and Gemini in areas ranging from productivity and event ticketing to health and fitness,” according to Google.
Four partners are singled out. “Integrations with partners like Adobe, Experian, Localiza, and Peloton are live for users in Gemini, and in the coming weeks, we’ll be bringing these Connected Apps to Search as well,” the post states. Localiza is a Brazilian car rental company; the post does not describe what its integration does or in which markets it is available. The fifth name is new across both products: “Among other apps, we’ll also be launching a new integration with Calm across both Search and Gemini.”
For three of the four Gemini names, the news today is Search. Adobe, Experian and Peloton were among the 14 connected apps Google began rolling out in Gemini on September 23, a batch that also included Airtable, Linear, monday.com, Squarespace and Webflow. Adobe’s tools from Photoshop, Lightroom, Express and Firefly began a global rollout inside Gemini on September 24.
The “more than 50” figure is harder to place. PPC Land reported on August 12 that Google’s own availability help article already listed 41 connected apps before that day’s batch of 13 named partners, five of which were already on the list. Fourteen more followed in September. On October 13, Google said the Gemini app connects to “more than 40 apps”. Today’s post counts Search and Gemini together. It does not say whether an app available in both products is counted once or twice, and the arithmetic from Google’s earlier lists points to a total for Gemini alone that is already above 50. Google directs readers to its help center pages for Search and Gemini for the complete list.
What the post leaves out
Several questions that matter to anyone weighing an integration go unanswered in the announcement.
Economics. There is no mention of fees, revenue share or charges to developers, and nothing on whether users pay to reach any app beyond what the partner itself charges.
Selection. When two ticketing apps or two fitness apps are both connected, which one does Search or Gemini call? The post does not describe how a request is routed, whether users must link an app before it can be used, or whether Google may suggest an app the user has not connected. For brands, that routing logic plays the role ranking plays in search results.
Data. “Authenticated accounts” implies that users sign in to a partner service through Google, but the post does not describe the linking process, what user information passes from Google to the developer, what returns to Google, or how long either side keeps it.
Review criteria. The console makes review mandatory, but the post publishes no standards, timelines or grounds for rejection.
Advertising. The word does not appear.
Connected apps change what an AI answer can do: instead of linking to a business, Search or Gemini can call the business’s service directly. When Google first brought Instacart, Canva and YouTube Music into AI Mode in Search on July 16, AI Mode assembled a task and then sent the user to the partner to finish it. Until now, which companies got that treatment was decided through partnerships announced in batches. A console with a submission queue turns it into something closer to an application process, even if Google keeps the final say through review.
The audience on the Gemini side is large. Alphabet reported on July 22 that the Gemini app had reached 950 million monthly users. That app carries no advertising. Google’s vice president of global ads, Dan Taylor, denied in December 2025 that ads were coming to Gemini, and in January said there were no plans for ads in the Gemini app. With no paid placement on offer, being a connected app is one of the few ways a brand can be present inside Gemini’s interface at the moment a user asks for something it sells.
Search is a different case, because AI Mode does carry ads. Google confirmed around October 16 that it had begun testing ads in AI Mode for users who connect apps through Personal Intelligence, and its privacy policy dated October 16 lets data from connected Gmail, Drive and Photos accounts shape ads for people who allow Search or Gemini to read those services. That change concerns Google’s own content apps. Today’s post does not say whether interactions with third-party Connected Apps – a Peloton workout, an Experian credit query, a Calm session – are treated the same way, kept out of ad personalization, or shared with the partner.
The single build for two surfaces also fits what Google’s leadership has been saying in public. Sundar Pichai, speaking on the Sources podcast on October 21, said agents rather than a merger of products would unify Search and Gemini. A developer registering once and switching on either product, or both, is that idea expressed as tooling.
Measurement remains the gap. The console’s metrics – traffic, latency and error rates – tell an engineering team whether the integration works. They do not tell a marketing team whether a booking made inside Gemini came from a campaign, a brand search or nothing at all. Neither the post nor the console view Google published shows any link to Google Ads, Google Analytics or conversion tracking.
Brand control gets one line. Verified logos and authenticated accounts address a real risk in an open submission system: an app that looks like a well-known brand but is not. The post does not say how verification works or what proof a developer must provide.
Commerce is running on a parallel track. On October 15, Google began rolling out Universal Cart across US Search and the Gemini app, a cross-retailer basket that hands checkout to Google Pay or the merchant’s site. Merchants reach shoppers through one system, and service apps such as fitness, ticketing or car rental now through another.
Google’s road to MCP
The decision to build the platform on MCP follows more than a year of Google adopting the protocol piece by piece. On July 7, 2025, Google said it was exploring an MCP server for the Google Ads API, and on October 7, 2025, it released an open-source version. In February 2026, the Chrome team proposed WebMCP, which would let websites offer structured tools to agents instead of leaving them to screenshot analysis, page parsing and simulated clicks. The Gemini app gained custom MCP connections in its June 30 update, the same release that added Instacart and OpenTable as connected apps.
Today’s platform moves MCP from a setting that individual users configure to the formal entry point for companies. Users connecting their own servers is one thing; Google reviewing, publishing and monitoring third-party servers across its two largest AI surfaces is another.
Google is not alone in that direction. Meta’s Developer Tools MCP launched on June 30, letting developers manage Meta apps through AI assistants, and on April 29 Meta opened Ads AI Connectors that let Claude and ChatGPT create and edit campaigns. The protocol is becoming the common plumbing of agentic AI, with each platform deciding who gets to plug in and on what terms. Google’s terms, for now, are a sign-up form and a review queue.
Timeline
- July 7, 2025 – Google says it is exploring an MCP server for the Google Ads API
- October 7, 2025 – Google releases an open-source MCP server for the Google Ads API
- December 2025 – Google’s Dan Taylor denies that ads are coming to the Gemini app
- January 2026 – Taylor says there are no plans for ads in the Gemini app
- February 2026 – Chrome team proposes WebMCP for structured agent tools on websites
- April 29, 2026 – Meta opens Ads AI Connectors for Claude and ChatGPT
- June 30, 2026 – Gemini app adds custom MCP connections, Instacart and OpenTable
- June 30, 2026 – Meta launches Developer Tools MCP
- July 16, 2026 – Connected apps reach AI Mode in Search with Instacart, Canva and YouTube Music
- July 22, 2026 – Alphabet reports 950 million Gemini app monthly users
- August 12, 2026 – Google names 13 connected-app partners; help page lists 41 connected apps
- September 23, 2026 – 14 more connected apps, including Adobe, Experian and Peloton, roll out in Gemini
- September 24, 2026 – Adobe’s Photoshop and Firefly tools begin a global rollout in Gemini
- October 13, 2026 – Google says the Gemini app connects to more than 40 apps
- October 15, 2026 – Universal Cart rolls out in US Search and the Gemini app
- October 16, 2026 – Privacy policy lets connected Gmail, Drive and Photos data shape ads
- October 20, 2026 – PPC Land reports Google’s AI Mode ad test for Personal Intelligence users
- October 21, 2026 – Pichai says agents, not a merger, will unify Search and Gemini
- October 28, 2026 – Google opens the Connected Apps Platform preview and the Google Connected Console; says more than 50 Connected Apps are live across Search and Gemini; announces a Calm integration for both
- Coming weeks – Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton Connected Apps due to reach Search
- Coming months – More developers, markets and Google products to be added to the platform
- Google connects Instacart, Canva and YouTube Music inside AI Mode search – The July launch that brought connected apps to Search and showed how AI Mode hands tasks to partners.
- Gemini gains 14 third-party apps including Experian and Adobe – The September batch that first put Adobe, Experian and Peloton inside Gemini.
- Google adds Granola to Gemini 12 days after it was sued over secret recording – The August partner list and the help-page count of 41 connected apps.
- Gemini app tasks mode works while users are away, for $19.99 and up – Gemini 4 Argon, the tasks toggle and Google’s “more than 40 apps” figure.
- Google restricts new Mac AI agent to $99.99 Ultra subscribers – The June update that added custom MCP connections to the Gemini app.
- Gemini gains Adobe’s Photoshop and Firefly tools on all plans – What Adobe’s integration does inside Gemini and which plans include it.
- Google lets connected Gmail and Photos data shape ads, 5 years after pledge – The October 16 privacy policy change linking connected Google content to ad personalization.
- Google’s Universal Cart reaches US Search and Gemini, but not YouTube – Google’s parallel route for merchants into the same two AI surfaces.
- Gemini 4 Argon’s 25 trillion tokens in 72 hours leave Google short of compute – Pichai’s case that agents will tie Search and Gemini together.
- Chrome’s WebMCP could end AI agents’ pixel-parsing nightmare – Google’s proposal for websites to expose structured tools to browser agents.
- Google releases open source MCP server for Ads API integration – Google’s first MCP server for advertisers, released in October 2025.
- Meta launches Developer Tools MCP, cutting dashboard logins to zero – Meta’s MCP server for managing developer apps through AI assistants.
- Why Google won’t put ads in Gemini – VP explains the strategy gap – Google’s stated position on advertising in the Gemini app.
Summary
Who: Google, through a post by Chips Mistry, Group Product Manager for Search, and Mai Lowe, Group Product Manager for the Gemini app. App developers are the intended users of the new platform, with Adobe, Calm, Experian, Localiza and Peloton named as Connected Apps partners.
What: A preview of the Connected Apps Platform, which lets developers connect a cloud-hosted MCP server or an Android MCP integration built on the AppFunctions APIs, then register, test and submit the app through a new Google Connected Console. Developers choose Search, the Gemini app or both before Google reviews the app, and can track traffic, latency and error rates once it is live. Google says more than 50 Connected Apps are now live across the two products.
When: Announced today, October 28, 2026. Access opens in phases over the coming months; Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton are due to reach Search in the coming weeks, and Calm is launching on both products.
Where: Google Search and the Gemini app. The post names no countries or languages for the preview and says more markets and Google products will be added.
Why: Google says the platform lets developers “build once and reach high-intent users across both Search and the Gemini app.” For marketers, it opens a formal route for brands to put their services inside Google’s AI surfaces, including a Gemini app that carries no ads, while leaving fees, app selection, data sharing and conversion measurement unaddressed.