A couple weeks ago Google rolled out a new update for the Google Hangouts platform. This was one of the larger updates it had seen and adjusted the way it looks and feels for the callers. If you haven’t used Google Hangouts, it is a popular way to host conference calls online. You can have users speaking or just listening and everyone can see what is going on. It is one of the few things that really caught on through Google+ and has maintained popularity even as Google+ has fallen out of favor.
The update helped video load more quickly, look better and adjusted the interface to make it cleaner and easier to use. All the buttons that have always been there such as mute or hang up are still present, but smaller and more out of the way. This has been seen as a good thing since most people won’t need to use the buttons too often, so turning the ‘real estate’ over to the video allows for a better overall experience.
As with any update, there are always going to be some people who aren’t happy with the adjustments. Google gave them the option to click a link to continue using the old format. This is a nice option for those who wanted it, but at this point at least, it seems that most people are keeping the new updates.
Google Hangouts is a very popular marketing tool for doing sales presentations and offering ‘live events’ to potential customers. Some people have been worried that it wouldn’t get the attention it deserved from Google because of the fact that they are moving resources away from Google+. This update is certainly a good sign for this platform and for the marketers who use it.
