Zoom Advertising FAQ
Note (4/21/22): In the past couple of months, Zoom has been piloting its advertising program in order to determine which areas of the business best fit with our strategy and long-term growth mission, and we have decided to discontinue the program in order to focus our resources on those areas of the business.
Zoom was founded with the mission of delivering happiness by connecting people all over the world. In the wake of the pandemic in 2020, we saw our user base expand from an exclusively enterprise customer base to include a large number of consumers, and our revenue increased exponentially as a result. Currently, Zoom’s products and services are available for free to millions of users all over the world. Zoom is committed to providing its users with quality products and services, fostering innovation, and adding value.
Considering this, we are pleased to announce the launch of a pilot advertising program on November 1, 2021, through which we anticipate being able to support major investments in our platform as well as continue to provide free Basic users with full access to our robust services.
It is expected that the ads will be visible only on the final page of the user’s browser once the meeting has ended as part of this initial programme. In certain countries, only free Basic users will be able to see these ads if they join a meeting hosted by another free Basic user that is in the same country as them.
The implementation of this advertising pilot program has been carefully and thoughtfully considered, and we have done so in order to ensure the user has the choice to choose what advertising they want to see. On Zoom’s website, there will be a banner that provides a link that will take the user to a tool that allows the user to manage their cookies.
In order to make sure that this advertising program is completely compliant with our Privacy Statement, we have updated it. It is very important that we make one point very clear: we will not use the audio, video, files, and messages that are shared during meetings, webinars, and messaging sessions for the purposes of marketing, promotions, or third-party advertising; as stated in our Privacy Statement.
As a company we are extremely proud to offer a service that helps so many different global communities stay connected to one another around the world. Our free Basic users will be able to continue to connect with their friends, family, and colleagues via our robust platform as a result of this change, allowing them to maintain a strong social network.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Zoom decide to launch an advertising program?
In order to deliver happiness, Zoom’s mission is to connect people in a way that fosters happiness. We experienced exponential growth as a result of the pandemic that took place in 2020, and our user base expanded from a predominantly enterprise-reliant one to one that included an increasing number of individual users. There are millions of Zoom users all over the world who access Zoom’s free products and services every day. It is important to Zoom that its products and services continue to be available to users without requiring them to pay for them, and that this allows us to drive innovation and improve our services even further. In this spirit, we are pleased to announce that we are rolling out a pilot advertising program today, which we are confident will enable us to continue to provide free Basic users with access to our robust platform while supporting investment.
Who will see the ads?
If you join a meeting hosted by another free Basic user in a certain country, you will be able to see these ads if you are a free Basic user.
| In applicable regions... | Free User | Paid User |
|---|---|---|
| Free Host | Ad | No ad |
| Paid Host | No ad | No ad |
Will ads be shown in all countries?
It is expected that certain countries will be able to see the ads at launch time.
I was served an ad right after talking about it on Zoom. How do you explain this?
Our Privacy Statement (which is currently being updated with regard to advertisements) outlines that no part of our audio, video, files, or messages (specifically, the audio, video, files, and messages) will be used for any marketing, promotion, or advertising purposes by third parties. Third-party advertisers on our platform place ads based on the data that they possess about their customers.
Has Zoom, or will Zoom have to, update its policies to specifically address advertising?
There has been no update to Zoom’s Privacy Statement since November 1, 2021.
Can users opt out of receiving ads?
By using our cookie management tool, users are able to opt-out of being targeted with cookies and disable all ads on their computers. The user will be presented with a banner or a link on Zoom’s website that instructs the user to go to our cookie management tool, which can be accessed from our website’s bottom under Cookie Settings, which provides easy access to managing cookies.
