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Even with 10 million downloads, Google Duo isn’t doing so hot

Although Google Duo had an impressive usership spike during its first week, download rates have since declined dramatically.

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Published onSeptember 15, 2016

For those not in the know, Google Duo is the search giant’s response to FaceTime. Many iPhone users are hesitant to move to the Android OS because they’ve become accustomed to simple and effective video chatting which simply hasn’t been available in a widespread medium on Android. Google Duo is an attempt to fix this gap, letting users chat across platforms. However, as of yet, it’s far from ubiquitous.

Sure, in its first month alive it’s garnered an impressive 10 million downloads from the Google Play Store, which isn’t bad at all for such a young app. However, 5 million of these downloads happened in the first week, meaning the buzz has dropped off tremendously.

Google even produced a bevy of relatively high-dollar commercials to familiarize the audience at large with their new chatty app. It’s clear that the company isn’t satisfied with this cross-platform FaceTime alternatives performance so far, and they’re trying to hook new users into the fold.

Although Duo once held the number one position in the Google Play Store just a couple of days after its release, it has since fallen clean off the charts. It now resides well below the reach of the public eye in 127th place.

Is Google’s attempt to bring FaceTime capabilities to the masses going to be a non-starter? For it to be as natural a choice for voice callers as FaceTime is on iOS, it will have to get substantially more attention. But what are your thoughts? Let us know your forecast in the comments below!

Why Google Duo has very little chance of succeeding

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