- Google’s premium video conferencing tool Meet, which was only available to businesses, is now free for everyone.
- Google hopes to seduce the general public and compete with Zoom, which exploded with containment, with 300 million daily users.
- Google is focusing in particular on security and the one billion Gmail users.
The giants of Silicon Valley counterattack. Faced with the phenomenal success of Zoom on videoconferencing in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, which multiplied by 30 its number of daily users during confinement (from 10 million to 300 million), Facebook unveiled Messenger Rooms last week. This Wednesday, Google is releasing heavy artillery: its Meet service, which was previously paid and reserved for companies, will become free and accessible to everyone. The deployment is due to start next Monday and will be spread over several weeks. Meet will gradually replace the Hangouts video chat, which had not really changed in several years.
Concretely, with Google Meet, the general public will have access, on computer, iOS and Android, to:
- videoconferencing up to 100 participants
- a "mosaic" display that allows you to see 16 people at a time
- unlimited sessions during the coronavirus (which will be limited to one hour after September 30)
- the possibility of sharing your screen to give a presentation
- captions in real time thanks to artificial intelligence
Google insists on security
“Zoombombing” (intrusion of uninvited people), leaking identifiers on the “dark Net”, pirated recordings, data shared automatically with Facebook… The success of Zoom was accompanied by an endless list of controversies on private life and security. The start-up has apologized and hired former Facebook security boss Alex Stamos to thoroughly review its practices.
During a presentation to journalists in which 20 Minutes participated, Smita Hashim, product director of Google Meet, insisted: “Safety is part of the DNA of Meet. In particular, she cites names of complex sessions that are difficult to hack, absolute control of the creator of a meeting, who can fire any participant or mute a person, and encryption "in transit" to protect the confidentiality of the data. sensitive, for example for telemedicine.
Finally, the web version works directly in Chrome (or other modern browsers). There is therefore no need to install a plugin or program, which ensures that users always have the "most recent and most secure" version, insists Hashim.
Capitalize on the billion Gmail users
If the Mountain View company has fallen behind Zoom - especially culturally and among the youngest - it is not starting from scratch. According to Google, Meet last week passed the 100 million daily user mark and adds 3 million every day. The upcoming integration of the service with Gmail and Google Calendar should allow it to capitalize on a base of more than one billion users.
Google and Facebook aren't the only ones wanting their share of a booming videoconferencing market. Slack, Microsoft, Cisco and the operator Verizon are also in the running. Because according to Smita Hashim, the coronavirus has changed the situation: "There will be no turning back," she predicts. “For telework, collaboration or social ties, the trend is set to last. "
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