After terrorist attacks which killed 34 people in Brussel and 33 people in Istanbul and Ankara, Google announced on twitter that they will provide free calls for people in Turkey and Belgium via Hangout.
Free calls via Hangouts to Belgium & Turkey + info in search for Brussels → https://t.co/0OwKw9M4Fc #BrusselsAttacks pic.twitter.com/QBNMBCCGPh
— Google (@google) March 22, 2016
They also give details on their Google+ post and informed that these free calls will be available on Hangouts, Hangouts Dialer and Google Voice. While people in Belgium can call mobile carriers for free, it applies to all landlines in Turkey.
Does Google Really Care About Terrorist Attacks?
Well, I guess this part of the article might upset some readers, but please hear me out and my evidence. I am not a Google hater; I can’t even imagine why people hate something like Google. I mean I can imagine why people hate Justin Bieber but why do you hate Google?
First of all, companies don’t care about social issues, attacks or politics. Their foundation goal is to maximize their profits and they spend their every single hour to make it happen. Are they trying to seem socially responsible? Of course, because that will boost their profits. There is no doubt that there are companies out there which were founded to support this kind of issues and help people but Google is not one of them. I am currently taking Marketing Class, we are in the middle of the term (I have an exam on Monday, wish me luck) and I have been listening all of those strategies that Starbucks, Google and McDonalds use. Now I am sure for two things: My childhood is ruined and these people won’t do a thing if they don’t generate profit out of it.
Communications apps have improved so much lately and Google Hangouts was just a messaging app in the beginning, now it can make calls and guess what apps can also make voice calls? WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat. Did you also know that people use these apps more than they use Google Hangouts?
These apps are the most popular communication apps in Turkey and Belgium. Yes, most people use these apps to communicate even if Google Hangout comes as a system app on Android devices. You might think that Hangouts has more downloads on Google Play Store but most users turn auto-update on and Hangouts just download or update itself. So most of the numbers you see for Google Apps on Google Play Store doesn’t reflect real data.
Moreover, most people have still no clue Google Hangouts can make voice calls too. This is even new for WhatsApp but since most people have already been using WhatsApp, they saw that instantly and make the most of that feature.
You might be asking; then why WhatsApp or Skype haven’t done the same thing? Because they are already popular and people have already chosen them over Hangouts.
Even if most people can already communicate well enough, people are glad to be regarded. Societal marketing never fires back; Google seems to profit quite a lot from this campaign. As a starter, people will learn Hangouts can make free calls. While most people communicate with apps like Skype and WhatsApp, this might turn the tides in Google’s favor.
