Google Duo

New Delhi: As video calling became the norm in the pandemic-hit year, Google Duo and Google Meet hosted over one trillion minutes of video calls globally -- equal to more than 18 billion hour-long virtual workouts in a single year. The company said that with your Gmail account, Meet calls are unlimited through March 31, 2021 so that families can enjoy holiday traditions without interruptions. In 2020, Google added a Meet tab in Gmail so that with one tap, people can jump from an email to a video call. "We also brought Meet to Nest Hub Max and Chromecast to help people get up, move around, and have hands-free calls at home," said Dave Citron, Director of Product Management, Google Duo & Google Meet. "Google Meet and Google Duo were built with an emphasis on privacy and security, to keep your calls and meetings safe and your information private". The Google app crossed 100 million users daily and its daily user numbers "had a peak of 235 million" in the third quarter of this year, according to the BBC. At the COVID-19 peak in April-May, Google Meet teleconferencing service added about three million users per day. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that the company saw a 30-fold increase in usage since January.

Google Meet, Duo hosted over 1 trillion minutes of video calls