Virtual meetings: Tech giants in a race to provide best video call experience

The largest software companies are stepping up their game to compete with Zoom and meet the increasing demand for video calling as more people self-isolate to limit the spread of Covid-19. Last month, users grew wary of using Zoom after critical security issues came to light, giving Google, Microsoft and Facebook a window of opportunity to rope in more users with free services and new features.

Earlier this week, Google announced that its video conference product, Meet, will soon be available for free. Google Meet is a part of the company’s G Suite paid productivity apps. “Starting in early May, anyone with an email address can sign up for Meet and enjoy many of the same features available to our business and education users,” said Javier Soltero, vice president and general manager, G Suite. Over the next few weeks, Google will gradually make the app freely available to everyone. Google Meet’s daily meeting participants stood at around 100 million as of last week, compared to Zoom’s 300 million.