Zoom is one of the tools that has become most popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform quickly established itself as the most widely used for group video calls and widely transcended the borders of the business world, which was the segment it originally targeted. And best of all, its free version had very few limitations compared to the paid version.
With the gradual return to normalcy in many parts of the world, group video calling is no longer as necessary as it was a year ago. Despite this, they are still installed as one more tool in the day-to-day life of any person, both in terms of work and education; And so it is not surprising that Zoom is exploring new possibilities for monetization. Thus, it recently announced a pilot test to show ads among free users .
Just thinking about advertisements will be unpleasant for some, but don't be too hasty. Zoom will not show ads during video calls , but on the website that opens when a communication ends. In this way, the company intends to analyze the implementation of an economic income route that is not invasive or violates the privacy of virtual meetings.
As explained from Zoom, the ads will appear only for free users who join conferences organized by another person who also uses the free version.
Image: Zoom
Ads, the possibility that Zoom explores to monetize its free version
It is still unknown how long the Zoom ads will be piloted. The company has not been very explicit regarding its scope either, as it mentions that the test will be carried out in “certain countries” , without indicating which ones.
“We have carefully considered how to implement this advertising pilot program, and we have done so with the goal of ensuring user choice. Users will see a banner on Zoom's website with a link to our cookie management tool,” they explained. in the ad.
On the other hand, Zoom has also updated its Privacy Statement to include the ability to display ads. In this way, the company has confirmed that it does not intend to use the content of the video calls for advertising purposes.
