Software
Google Meet will not restrict calls for free plans to 60 minutes until March 2021
Google is expanding its policy that allows free Google Meet calls to host users for more than 60 minutes. The policy was supposed to expire after September 30th, but now free users can host longer calls through March 2021.
As we look forward to a holiday season with less travel and significant milestones such as family reunions, PTA meetings and video-hosted weddings, we want to continue helping those who depend on Meet keep in touch in the coming months, said Samir Pradhan, Google Group Product Manager, in a blog post. Today, as a token of our loyalty, we continue to accept unlimited calls (up to 24 hours) in the free edition of Gmail accounts until March 31, 2021.
The extension should come as a relief to those who relied on the service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Google has revamped Google Meet constantly this year to keep it competitive with other video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, adding features such as a Zoom-like view of the gallery (which can now display up to 49 people at once) and background blur.
The 30th of September also marks the loss of free access to certain advanced Google Meet features for G Suite and G Suite for Education customers, such as hosting meetings with up to 250 participants and saving meeting recordings on Google Drive. Google stated to The Verge that free access is not being extended.
