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Google+ Now Lets You Conference People Into Hangouts With Free Voice Calls

115 points| sidcool | 14 years ago |techcrunch.com

11 comments

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[+] runjake|14 years ago|reply
It seems like Google+ is going to become highly useful whether you like it or not. I'm not sure whether I like Google+, but I admire Google's endurance behind it.
[+] betterlabs|14 years ago|reply
I don't get it. It just feels like they are trying to do too much too soon. I don't know any other than marketers who are building content on Google+ and I wonder what their engagement metrics look like.

Another thing is for conference calls, there are already several free and dead easy solutions out there, so its unclear who this is aimed at.

[+] mullr|14 years ago|reply
What's not to get? This is clearly the leading free multi-way video conferencing solution. My team recently ditched Skype's paid version; it was flaky as all hell, while hangouts is rock solid. This brings me and 6 other people back to google+ every day. It also got 5 of those 6 people to sign up for google+ at all.

So given:

- "hangouts" is a compelling product with early traction (anecdotal but strong)

- it drives continued engagement to their strategic product

- it accelerates google+ adoption by providing a concrete reason for people to register there, because "that's where the meeting is"

Therefore, the right thing to do is to invest more in hangouts.

[+] scottkrager|14 years ago|reply
I didn't know anyone but marketers on Twitter in 2007.

Give Google+ time, everyone wants a legit Facebook competitor right now, but it's going to take years not months for Google+ to go mainstream.

[+] jamilb|14 years ago|reply
yeah! let's all hang out on the web!

you go do that, i'll grab a beer with my non-imaginary friends.