#Slack shares drop after Google announces work-related Gmail upgrades

Slack shares tanked after Google announced new Gmail features designed to compete with the popular work-messaging app.

The search giant announced this week that Gmail for businesses is getting a major upgrade which will see a slew of new features added to the email app.

Corporate Gmail users will receive integration for Google Chat, Docs, Rooms and Meet — creating a new productivity suite which puts the service’s functionality on par with the leading workplace chat apps.

Slack shares were down 2.1 percent in Thursday morning trading, at $31.44.

“In my conversations with customers and business leaders since the onset of COVID-19, I’ve seen workplace transformation go from an almost theoretical long-term goal to an urgent priority,” G Suite Vice President Javier Soltero said in a blog post. “We need the tools we already use to be even more helpful, and work together, in an integrated, intuitive way.”

Soltero said that a common complaint Google received from customers was that switching between tabs and apps interrupted their focus, and that a consolidated platform would make life easier.

Coworkers who are collaborating on a project will, for example, be able to simultaneously edit a Google Doc together while having a chat conversation within their Gmail app.

Google in April took on popular video chatting platform Zoom when it announced that it would make its Meet video-conferencing service for businesses free for all users.

While Google had long offered free, public versions of business tools including Gmail and Google Docs, there has been no equivalent for Meet, which launched three years ago.