Google Meet is adding two million users daily as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Google reports that their recently rebranded video conferencing service, Google Meet, is experiencing a bit of a surge since the lockdowns took place. Interestingly, it’s not just businesses that are making use of the service during the pandemic.

Two million new users a day

As people around the world are forced to go on lockdown, video conferencing apps have never before been this important. While Zoom and Skype are two of the most popular video conferencing platforms today, Google Meet is also experiencing a big growth in usage. In fact, Google reports that the service is adding two million new users a day from every part of the globe.

Just last week, Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, had revealed on their blog that in March alone, the service recorded up to two billion minutes of video calls and is experiencing a 60% increase every day. Furthermore, their daily usage is 25 times more than they recorded in January.

Despite this, Google is confident that they would be able to handle such usage growth in its service.

What this surge means

These impressive stats highlight the importance of video conferencing apps in a time when social distancing is observed, and people are unable to meet up with their friends and colleagues. Video conferencing platforms such as Google Meet have become a lifeline for many businesses that are forced to operate in a work-from-home setting.

Schools that were forced to continue their students’ education had also turned to these apps as a medium for classes.

Not all work-related

Despite being a service that caters primarily to large enterprises, Google Meet had also seen a big surge in people using their platform for personal use. In fact, Javier Soltero, who heads the G Suite platform of Google, says that the platform use surges, particularly on Saturday. Since businesses are usually closed over the weekend, it’s interesting to see that the service is being used in “happy hours, family time, DJ parties, etc…,” as Soltero puts it.

Limited free premium access & extension

Last month, the company announced that they would be offering some of its advanced features for free until the beginning of July. But it’s not just for Google Meet. Until the time expires, the G Suite offering would allow its customers to host video conferences and meetings through Google Meet with a 250 participant limit. Furthermore, live streaming will be allowed to 100,000 viewers, and it can also be saved on Google Drive.

On a regular day, these services would cost about $25 per month, but in order to promote the lineup and also to help people in this time of lockdowns, they would cost nothing to use.

More than that, Google just recently announced the extension of its free services all the way to September. This means that people on lockdown will be able to enjoy these features for as long as they want.

Images courtesy of Unsplash/ Elle Cartier and Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio and Edward Jenner