Messaging apps have always been a strange weakness for a hugely successful company like Google, as anyone who has installed Buzz, Wave, Allo, Plus, or Talk will know. Now, Duo seems to be on the chopping block, with the ultimate goal of making Google Meet more powerful to compete with Zoom.

Sources told 9to5 Google that the plan is for the two messaging apps to become one, with Meet surviving and Duo dying. That may seem a bit harsh, but Google Meet has become incredibly popular thanks to the coronavirus giving video meetings a mighty boost, and it makes sense to capitalize on its newfound popularity.

According to the report, the change is the result of a change in Google's management, with the consumer communication services (Duo, Messages, and Android Phone apps) now under the control of G Suite boss Javier Soltero. Soltero reportedly told employees that keeping Duo and Meet made little sense when there was so much overlap in functionality.

The goal seems to be to bring its consumer features to Meet before Duo is shut down (a process that could take up to two years). These include end-to-end encryption, 3D effects, and contacting users by phone number. [Apparently, the integration is being referred to internally as "Duet," a word made up of Duo and Meet that describes two voices working in perfect harmony. Nevertheless, according to 9to5 Google, "this new direction and the drop in interest in building a dedicated consumer service came as a surprise to the Duo team."

Duo has proven reasonably popular since its launch in 2016.

But if one accepts the logic that only one video app can survive, it would be madness to shut down Meet so soon after it took off; in April, Google announced that daily usage of the product had grown 30-fold since January, with cumulative daily usage That's not to say that Duo wasn't experiencing similar growth, but not at the same level.

9to5 It is worth noting that Google issued a statement in response to Google's post. While on the surface it appears to be a denial, there is room for any number of equivocations in the statement:

"We are fully invested in Duo, which has experienced tremendous growth during the pandemic. People around the world rely on video calling more than ever, and we have no plans to interrupt that. We will continue to invest in building new features for Duo and creating an enjoyable experience for our users, customers and partners. We are moving the Duo organization under the leadership of Javier Soltero in May and looking at ways our video calling products can improve each other"

.

You can make your own decision, but we wouldn't bet on Duo being an independent app forever.