Google making its rival to Zoom available for free

Houston Chronicle:
This article, Google's Zoom rival, called Meet, is now free to consumers, originally appeared on CNET.com.

Google on Wednesday said it's making its teleconferencing service, called Google Meet, free to consumers. The move takes aim at Zoom , the rival video chat service that's become a household name during the stay-at-home era spurred by the novel coronavirus.

Previously, Meet was only available to paying customers of G Suite, Google's line of enterprise apps that includes Gmail, Drive and Docs. Until now, anyone could join a meeting by clicking on a link, but creating a meeting required a G Suite membership.

The free version of the product requires a Google account, and video calls have a 60-minute cap. But Google said it won't enforce that rule until after Sept. 30. The free version will also allow up to 100 participants and include features such as screen sharing and real-time captions.
...

As millions of people shelter in place, Google says usage of Meet has surged. On Tuesday, CEO Sundar Pichai said the service is adding 3 million new users a day during the pandemic, up from 2 million new users a day earlier this month. Pichai said the service has 100 million meeting participants a day.

Still, the breakout product of the coronavirus lockdown has undoubtedly been Zoom. The service has ballooned from 10 million daily users in December to 300 million daily users now. But the service has been plagued by data-sharing issues, as well as "Zoombombing," in which uninvited participants invade a video session. The drop-ins are sometimes coordinated attacks, filled with hate speech and harassment.

Google isn't the only tech giant chasing Zoom's runaway success. Last week, Facebook announced Messenger Rooms, a new feature that lets users video-chat with multiple people through Messenger, even if they don't have a Facebook account....
These services have been used for corporate meetings as well as church services during the pandemic.  The more options and competition we have the better.  Zoom is a Chicom service so many will probably prefer to use a US-based one.

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