What kind of savage doesn’t own a Google account nowadays? It’s obviously free… still, it lets you like, dislike and comment on YouTube videos, it gives you access to one of the world’s most popular email clients, a social network that, well, hasn’t truly taken off, plus a communication platform blending together instant messaging, video chat, SMS and VOIP features.

Check that, Hangouts used to require a Google account for joining video calls, but it no longer does. So, if for whatever reason you prefer to “covertly” surf the web, yet need to take part in a personal or business e-meeting, you’re free to do so by simply clicking on an invite link, quickly introducing yourself, and requesting a seat at the virtual table.

Obviously, if you want to organize a conference call, you still need a Google account, and the same goes for the rest of the Google Hangouts functionality, obtained by wisely uniting the old Google Plus-only Hangouts, as well as Talk and Google+ Messenger.

This is the latest in a series of service decentralization moves from the search giant now owned by Alphabet, which has stopped shoving down people’s throats its entire library of apps after the failed YouTube – Google Plus merger experiment. It’s certainly convenient to get guest access to video hangouts, but how do you think it will impact the user base in the long haul?

Source: Google Apps Updates