Google makes Meet video conferencing free to all users, challenging Zoom
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
February 03, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 03, 2023
Google makes Meet video conferencing free to all users, challenging Zoom

World+Biz

Reuters
29 April, 2020, 04:15 pm
Last modified: 29 April, 2020, 04:19 pm

Related News

  • Zoom shares down 90% from peak as pandemic boom fades
  • Sorry, Zuckerberg, the Metaverse won't replace Zoom
  • Google faces $1 billion UK trial over app store pricing
  • Google making smartwatch in 'ambient' computing push
  • Russia fines Google over Ukraine 'fakes', far-right content: TASS

Google makes Meet video conferencing free to all users, challenging Zoom

Google has provided free video conferencing for nearly 12 years through its Hangouts service, but it features outdated security and technology and its popularity has waned

Reuters
29 April, 2020, 04:15 pm
Last modified: 29 April, 2020, 04:19 pm
FILE PHOTO: The Google logo is pictured at the entrance to the Google offices in London, Britain January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
FILE PHOTO: The Google logo is pictured at the entrance to the Google offices in London, Britain January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google on Wednesday said any user will soon be able to host free video conferences on Meet, turning its previously business-only tool into a bigger rival to Zoom and others battling for users during the coronavirus outbreak.

Zoom Video Communications Inc (ZM.O), Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Skype and Facebook Inc's (FB.O) Messenger introduced features this month to attract users as people barred from going out to socialize seek free options to connect with friends and family by online video.

But Meet, which has 100 million daily users, had required a Google business or education account to set up calls. While Google has long offered free versions of business tools including Gmail and Google Docs, there has been no equivalent for Meet, a newer service launched three years ago.

The company gradually will open Meet in the coming weeks, and users can sign up landing.google.com/googlemeet to know when their account gains access.

Google has provided free video conferencing for nearly 12 years through its Hangouts service, but it features outdated security and technology and its popularity has waned. The company also maintains Duo, a video calling app accessible only on smartphones.

Smita Hashim, a director of product management at Google, said in an interview that the company recommends consumers use Meet over Hangouts.

"As Covid-19 has impacted everyone's lives, we felt there was a reason to bring something built for businesses first to everyone," she said, referring to COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. "It's a more secure, reliable, modern product."

Meet calls pass through Google's servers, enabling it to provide automatic captioning, troubleshoot issues and comply with legal orders to share users' data. But consumers' calls will not be stored. Businesses and schools will have exclusive access to recording meetings and other options.

Google generates revenue from many of its free services by placing ads within them or collecting data on users' behavior to personalize ads. That will not be true for Meet, Hashim said.

Google's cloud services unit, which developed Meet, does not use customer data for advertising and that will apply to free users, too, she said.

Alphabet on Tuesday announced first-quarter revenue that was better than investors had expected given the virus-hammered economy, and executives said that boosting free services at this time would pay off in the longer term by generating user loyalty.

But Meet will cut free calls after an hour starting in October, compared with no time limit on Messenger and Skype and a 40-minute restriction on consumer Zoom accounts. Free Meet calls also will be limited to no more than a single host and 100 participants - the same as Zoom's free version but above the 50 on Messenger and Skype.

Google aims to deter bad behavior by requiring all participants of the consumer version of Meet to sign in with a Google account. Participants' names and profile pictures will be visible on calls, but their email addressees will not be shared, Hashim said.

Top News / Global Economy

Google Inc / Zoom

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Photo: Bloomberg
    The China-Russia friendship is too big to fail
  • Infographic: TBS
    Isolation ward, ICU beds at DNCC Covid Hospital ready for Nipah virus patients 
  • Signage is seen outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, U.S., August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
    US FDA says India-made eye drop linked to some infections, blindness and one death

MOST VIEWED

  • Signage is seen outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, U.S., August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
    US FDA says India-made eye drop linked to some infections, blindness and one death
  • Photo: Bloomberg
    S&P cuts two Adani firms' rating to negative from stable
  • U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a joint press availability with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna at the State Department in Washington, U.S. October 21, 2022. REUTERS/Michael A. McCoy
    Blinken postpones trip to China after spy balloon detected in US: reports
  • As the central bank of the US, the Federal Reserve sets financial policy and bank-industry regulations that ultimately affect every American.  Photo: Getty Images via Foreign Policy
    Fed seen hiking policy rate above 5% as hiring surges
  • Photo: Bloomberg
    The China-Russia friendship is too big to fail
  • US one hundred dollar notes are seen in this picture illustration taken in Seoul February 7, 2011. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won
    Dollar jumps as US employers add more jobs than expected in January

Related News

  • Zoom shares down 90% from peak as pandemic boom fades
  • Sorry, Zuckerberg, the Metaverse won't replace Zoom
  • Google faces $1 billion UK trial over app store pricing
  • Google making smartwatch in 'ambient' computing push
  • Russia fines Google over Ukraine 'fakes', far-right content: TASS

Features

Andy Mukherjee. Sketch: TBS

What makes India's billionaires' support special for Adani

11h | Panorama
Photo: Rejaul Hafiz Rahi

A jackal farewell

11h | Earth
The trio spearheading the revival of book cover designs

The trio spearheading the revival of book cover designs

12h | Panorama
Six Jeep Wranglers and a special XJ Jeep Cherokee set out into the depths of Lalakhal, Sylhet for an experience of a lifetime. Photo: Ahbaar Mohammad

Jeep Life Bangladesh: A club for Jeep owners to harness the power of their vehicles

1d | Wheels

More Videos from TBS

A proper price formula can help investors to plan big

A proper price formula can help investors to plan big

1d | TBS Round Table
Rumors about Sarika that everyone thinks are true

Rumors about Sarika that everyone thinks are true

1d | TBS Entertainment
Mugging rife in Tejgaon, murder in Wari

Mugging rife in Tejgaon, murder in Wari

1d | TBS Current Affairs
What secrets are hidden behind Adani's wealth?

What secrets are hidden behind Adani's wealth?

1d | TBS Stories

Most Read

1
Bapex calls candidates for job test 9 years after advert!
Bangladesh

Bapex calls candidates for job test 9 years after advert!

2
Leepu realised his love for cars from a young age and for the last 40 years, he has transformed, designed and customised hundreds of cars. Photo: Collected
Panorama

'I am not crazy about cars anymore': Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu

3
Photo: Collected
Energy

8 Ctg power plants out of production

4
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Economy

IMF approves $4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh, calls for ambitious reforms

5
Photo: Collected
Court

Japanese mother gets guardianship of daughters, free to leave country

6
Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane
Infrastructure

Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]