Rumor: Google no longer plans to make Meet a consumer app

Google would no longer plan to make Google Meet both a business and a consumer app. 9to5Google writes that on the basis of internal communication. However, the company would still like to discontinue Google Duo in the long run.

The leadership of Google Meet and Duo has communicated internally at the end of 2020 that the company no longer wants one video calling service that is intended for both personal and business use, writes 9to5Google. Instead, Google would like the team to focus entirely on Google Meet as a business platform. Google would like to make Meet a bit more consumer-friendly by allowing users to dial in with a phone number. There would be no plans to create a service that, like Duo, focuses entirely on personal use. According to 9to5Google, the company still wants to pull the plug on Duo, although it is not clear whether this was also in the message to employees or whether the site has another source for this.

Google tells the news site that there is no change in its plans “to continue investing in consumer users.” The company also mentions a list of features that it added to Google Duo in 2021. However, 9to5Google writes that some of the features were added to Google Meet months earlier, which would actually confirm that the company is prioritizing the latter service. Other features would further stem from a contractual obligation, such as Duo being available on Samsung TVs, or were already in development before the policy changes, 9to5Google claims.

In August 2020, 9to5Google, based on conversations with sources, reported that Google would merge its Meet and Duo video calling services. Duo features such as end-to-end encryption and 3D effects would then be transferred to Google Meet and the former app would cease to exist. Google has never confirmed the plans itself and said at the time it did not want to “disrupt” the use of Duo.