Google is sending Meet links alongside Zoom invites

Video conferencing
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

With more people working from home than ever before, video conferencing software has become an essential tool for remote workers to stay in touch with their teams and conduct meetings online.

This has led Microsoft, Google and other software companies to push their video conferencing solutions much more aggressively than they did before the pandemic in order to catch up with Zoom which has seen tremendous adoption and success this year.

According to a recent survey from Gartner, the video conferencing market shows no signs of slowing down with end-user spending projected to grow by 24.3 percent to reach $4.1bn this year.

Google recently started sending links to its Google Meet service to users that try to send out a Zoom invite using Gmail, according to a new report from MSPoweruser.

A user tried to send out a Zoom invitation over Gmail using the Windows 10 Mail client when they realized that Google had modified their email in transit to add a Google Meet link to the invitation. To make things even more confusing, only recipients of the Zoom invite will see the added Meet link in their email.

In the email itself, the correct Zoom link is under the 'where' section while the message “Join with Google Meet” and a Meet link are found in the 'joining info' section.

While this may have been caused by an accident on Google's end, if it was intentional, it could give regulators yet another reason to proceed with antitrust regulation against the search giant.

Via MSPoweruser

Anthony Spadafora

After working with the TechRadar Pro team for the last several years, Anthony is now the security and networking editor at Tom’s Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and ransomware gangs to the best way to cover your whole home or business with Wi-Fi. When not writing, you can find him tinkering with PCs and game consoles, managing cables and upgrading his smart home.