Zoom to start showing ads on free model

Zoom will start showing ads to users on the video conferencing platforms’ free model as part of a new pilot program, the company said Monday.

For the initial pilot program, ads will only be shown on the browser page users see once they end their meeting using the “free Basic” model.

Only free Basic users will see the ads if they join meetings hosted by other free Basic users, according to Zoom’s blog post. 

“There is one thing we want to make very clear: as noted in our Privacy Statement, we will not use meeting, webinar, or messaging content (specifically, audio, video, files, and messages) for any marketing, promotions, or third-party advertising purposes,” Zoom’s chief marketing officer, Janine Pelosi, wrote in the blog post. 

The test program will be rolled out in “certain countries,” but the post did not specify precisely where. 

Zoom has seen its popularity rise since the COVID-19 pandemic began, with business and social interaction shifting to virtual platforms. 

Previously, the major difference between the basic free tier and paid services was a time restriction of 40-minute meetings on the free model.