# 101: Build something agents want

Canonical: https://www.lazyweb.com/101
Updated: 2026-09-20
Curator: Ali Abouelatta (https://www.lazyweb.com/authors/ali-abouelatta)

9 opinionated reading paths for the new agent economy. Start with the TL;DR, then read the people who did the work.

- [WebMCP](https://www.lazyweb.com/101/webmcp) — The browser contract, the product decisions behind useful page tools, and the compatibility layers you need while the standard is still moving. (15 canons)
- [MCP](https://www.lazyweb.com/101/mcp) — The protocol's original motivation, current architecture, secure transport and the maintainer decisions that turned a connector format into shared infrastructure. (15 canons)
- [AEO](https://www.lazyweb.com/101/aeo) — What answer engines retrieve and cite, how unstable that evidence is, and which publishing changes deserve to be tested instead of repeated as folklore. (15 canons)
- [SEO](https://www.lazyweb.com/101/seo) — The durable search foundations, demand research and technical diagnostics that still matter when result pages, crawlers and interfaces keep changing. (15 canons)
- [Viral marketing](https://www.lazyweb.com/101/viral-marketing) — The mechanics of compounding distribution, the product loops that make sharing useful, and the social triggers that make an idea worth carrying. (15 canons)
- [Agent-led growth](https://www.lazyweb.com/101/agent-led-growth) — How discovery, evaluation, buying and product use change when software agents become a source of demand instead of merely another acquisition channel. (15 canons)
- [Personal assistants](https://www.lazyweb.com/101/personal-assistants) — The half-century path from personal computing and calm technology to assistants with memory, tools, initiative and the ability to act across software. (15 canons)
- [ChatGPT ads](https://www.lazyweb.com/101/chatgpt-ads) — The product contract, creative system, targeting inputs and measurement model for advertising inside an answer interface rather than a keyword result page. (15 canons)
- [Managed agents](https://www.lazyweb.com/101/managed-agents) — The control planes, durable execution, sandboxes, logs and human approvals that let an agent keep working after the first model call ends. (15 canons)

**How 101 works:** Lazyweb summarizes the source and tells you why to read it. The original author owns the argument. Every canon links to the original.