Google has just made it super easy to start a new video call on Meet, by allowing users to go to meet.new.
Going to meet.new is basically the same thing as clicking on the “Start a Meeting” button on the Google Meet homepage. But now it eliminates one of those steps.
By going to that link, you are going straight to the “Meeting Ready” screen, which provides a URL to copy and share as well. On the left of the video and audio preview, you’ll see that there are “Join Now” and “Present” buttons.
Just the latest .new link from Google
Google introduced these .new links last year. They are meant to be shortcuts to opening new things. Currently, you can go to docs.new, sheets.new, slides.new, sites.new, forms.new and website.new to create new docs, spreadsheets, etc. It’s a very simple and easy to use shortcut. Not to mention it’s super easy to remember as well.
Now the .new links have made its way over to Google Meet. Of course, if you already have Gmail open, it may not be much quicker than clicking on the “Start a Meeting” button in the left-pane of Gmail.
It’s also worth noting that Google does note which account you are currently logged into when you go to meet.new. And it also supports using the /1 or /2 to start a call from another Google account that you are logged into. That is very useful, since Google Meet isn’t just for G Suite users, but also traditional Gmail users.
Making it easier than ever
Google is in a fight to make Meet the default video call service out there. It’s in a big fight with Apple’s Facetime as well as Zoom. When the pandemic began, most people started using Zoom, because it’s what a lot of companies and educational institutions already used. Meanwhile, Meet was only available for G Suite customers, and it was still pretty new. Since Google was in the process of getting rid of Hangouts in favor of Meet and Chat.
Which meant that Google was behind. But it has quickly opened up Meet for everyone, and started integrating it into all of its services. Which sounds like a good thing, but it could also be a bad thing – Google+ and Hangouts were integrated into everything, one is gone and the other is about to be.
But adding these new meet.new URLs is going to make it easier for people to start meetings, and hopefully jump on-board with Google Meet.