Zoom Video Communications Inc. has walked back a claim it made earlier this month about having 300 million daily active users, indicating that the number of people logging into its platform daily is lower.

The company’s stock is down nearly 7% today on the news.

Zoom revised its publicly stated user count by quietly updating the blog post in which it announced the 300 million figure on April 22. The change, first reported by The Verge today, replaced 300 million daily active users with 300 million “daily meeting participants.” That’s significant because the “daily meeting participants” metric can count the same user multiple times, meaning a person who joins five Zoom meetings a day could potentially be counted five times.

A Zoom spokesperson said in a statement that “we are humbled and proud to help over 300 million daily meeting participants stay connected during this pandemic. In a blog post on April 22, we unintentionally referred to these participants as “users” and “people.” When we realized this error, we adjusted the wording to “participants.” This was a genuine oversight on our part.”

Even though Zoom’s daily active user count is lower than previously indicated, it’s clear that the company is experiencing massive growth. In a separate update posted three weeks before the since-revised blog post, the company said the number of daily meeting participants on its platform had risen to 200 million from a peak of about 10 million in December.

Even after today’s stock market dip, shares of Zoom are still trading more than 55% higher than on Jan. 31. But the same  surge in demand for communications tools that has lifted the company’s stock is also boosting the competition.

Several of Zoom’s top rivals passed growth milestones recently. During Microsoft Corp.’s earnings call on Wednesday, Chief Executive Satya Nadella shared that the company’s Microsoft Teams videoconferencing service had reached 75 million daily active users, a 70% increase over the number the company reported six weeks earlier.

Videoconferencing was also on the agenda during Alphabet Inc.’s earnings call. The Google LLC parent revealed that its Meet service now boasts more than 100 million daily meeting participants and is adding around 3 million new users every day. To help the momentum going, Google has made Meeting available at no charge.

The massive uptick in adoption of videoconferencing tools has invited more competition for existing players. Facebook Inc. jumped into the ring last week by introducing Messenger Rooms, while Verizon Communications Inc. earlier shelled out a reported $400 million to acquire Blue Jeans Network Inc., a Zoom rival that provides videoconferencing and webcasting tools for businesses. 

Image: Zoom