Video conferencing app Zoom has started a pilot project to show ads to users of its base version. This should make it possible to keep the app free, the company says.
Zoom is the meeting app that skyrocketed in popularity during the lockdown last year. This happened partly because the app is easy to use and allows you to set up a group conversation for free for 40 minutes. However, Zoom also has paid plans for businesses, with fewer restrictions and more security, from which the company derives its revenue.
For the free version, ads may now be added as an additional source of income. In a first test, users are shown advertisements on the browser page that they are presented with at the end of a meeting. However, Zoom is also thinking of possible other places in the user interface, which can be tested later.
With the test and the ads, there will also be a banner for managing cookies and updating the privacy rules at Zoom. It states, among other things, that content from meetings will not be used for marketing or advertising. This is because zoom has learned in recent months, mainly through scandals, that users are sensitive to the privacy and encryption of their online video calls.