Richard MacManus

Tech analyst @ ReadWriteWeb (2003–2012)
🥝 in 🇬🇧

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

I’ve just launched Agentic Web News: market signals, interviews and analysis on the next phase of the web.

The debut issue covers agentic commerce, AI search/GEO/AEO, and production AI apps becoming more agent-shaped.

Read + subscribe: https://t.co/wcOCYjgh89

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

"If I were building a website tomorrow, or building a SaaS app tomorrow, I would probably build it MCP-first, because that’s how agents increasingly want to consume this."

Love this quote from @TheMostlyGreat from @TryArcade, who I interviewed for AWN. https://t.co/Edkk79ekHH

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

In this week's Agentic Web News market signals, I look at the economic layers now emerging in the agentic web:

📡 Agentic advertising enters its “wild west” phase
🛒 Amazon launches agentic shopping infra
🆔 DNS-AID and agent identity / discovery

https://t.co/yPi14psise

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

Not sure who uses Mastodon or Bluesky here, but I have thoughts on the open social web: https://t.co/fozC3pcgMp

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

"Hey...let's be careful out there." Prompted by the immortal words of Sgt. Phil Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues, I look at two lessons from RunSignup’s careful AI rollout:

1. Embed AI where users already work.
2. Move fast — but safely.

https://t.co/dKhy8QfbYj

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

RunSignup, a web platform for race organizers, is deploying AI chatbots and building agentic infrastructure across its product. I spoke to founder Bob Bickel about how MCP, AI assistants, and conversational interfaces are reshaping SaaS. https://t.co/W3zcoZ7lJk

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

My take on Google I/O: Google pushed a big, not always coherent vision for an agent-ready web.

Chrome had the clearest signals. Gemini Spark and AI search raised more questions.

Plus: could Parallel’s Index help with AI’s publisher economics?
https://t.co/ZW82s1sFE8

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

Check out the latest article in my LinkedIn newsletter -> Field notes from the agentic web: Google, Parallel and the market taking shape https://t.co/qoEh2QMW6H

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

Seeing the new Modern Web Guidance from Google reminds me of my pre-ReadWriteWeb blog, called... Modern Web :) #GoogleIO

[Chrome for Developers @ChromiumDev]

Agents are transforming web development & we’re equipping you with the tools to guide them → https://t.co/FWOg8frCxS

Whether it's empowering AI agents with Modern Web Guidance to build modern web applications, or scaling your workflow with Chrome DevTools for agents, we're improving developer workflows with intelligent guidance and automated debugging.

#GoogleIO

[Paul Kinlan @Paul_Kinlan]

I'm excited to share 15 updates from Google I/O 2026. We have updates across the agentic web, new capabilities and some great tools for developers.

https://t.co/E6hfFQ4EBI

If you are IO, come and talk to me and the team in the Chrome area.

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

The agentic web is becoming a business issue.

AI agents are changing how companies are discovered, understood and acted upon online.

My new post: why this matters for business leaders, product teams, publishers and developers.
https://t.co/mUI4fXjKiF

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

In the old days, we used to call this the “World Wide Web” ;)

[Thariq @trq212]

https://t.co/MXt5XS4xBX

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

What is the agentic web?

Read web → Read/write web → Platform web → Agentic web

I’ve published a new post defining the term, with historical context and analysis of why websites still matter in the AI era.

https://t.co/ZxO0il4yql

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

AX was the new DX. Now it’s becoming the new UX.

In my latest post, I explore how "agent experience" has morphed beyond "developer experience" and become a branch of "user experience". https://t.co/cSHlS42bL9 #AgenticWeb

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

The Museum of the Human Web: "a hybrid physical and digital museum celebrating the history of the human-built web." https://t.co/vD61D8hJ7R

Very cool. @p0 @paraga can I persuade you to sponsor my internet history website https://t.co/U2IUJOAlS3 ? A one-man web passion project.

[Ben Young @bwagy]

This is a great primer from @ricmac

He also will do an audit/consult - on how to improve the digital experience to cater to agents.

https://t.co/yfnzptTjdu

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

New post -> Agentic web patterns: what Web 2.0 taught me

From my early Web 2.0 days working on “design patterns” to today’s emerging patterns for AI on websites.

Patterns help turn abstract trends into things we can actually build.

https://t.co/YFO776JQWc

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

AI isn’t replacing websites, but it is changing how they’re used.

I now work as an agentic web consultant, focused on how AI systems interact with websites.

I’ve put together a 36-page playbook on how to add AI to a website: https://t.co/VvufUee739

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

Remember when we thought Twitter was the key to democracy? 😂 It's March 2010 and the Paley Center hosts an event in NYC starring Chinese artist and activist @aiww, Twitter CEO @jack, and your humble RWW editor. We're discussing the future of democracy. https://t.co/4k6TDO02xt

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

This is a key passage, and maybe the start of Web 2.0 for real. I surmise that the Google IPO, which took place in August 2004 — in-between Oscon and the Web 2.0 Conference — was the catalyst for a shift in emphasis, from "Napsterizing the web" to commercializing it instead.

[Richard MacManus @ricmac]

In this installment of my book 'Bubble Blog: From Outsider to Insider in Silicon Valley's Web 2.0 Revolution', I tune into the 2004 Web 2.0 Conference and learn about data sharecroppers. Meanwhile, I conduct my first major interview as a tech blogger. https://t.co/UWSDlipr6K