GOOGLE MEET TO LIMIT VIDEO CALL DURATION TO 60 MINUTES FOR FREE USERS STARTING 30 SEPTEMBER

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GOOGLE MEET TO LIMIT VIDEO CALL DURATION TO 60 MINUTES FOR FREE USERS STARTING 30 SEPTEMBER

Increased demand in video conferencing apps amidst the lockdown period had prompted Google to announce that it was making Meet free for all users. However, that scheme was time-bound and the free features are going to last only till the end of this month.

Starting from May, Google had declared that its office-oriented platform will be available for all users who have a Gmail account. They can enjoy unlimited video calling on the application. For free users, the limit is 60 minutes on every call and this is going to be restored after 30 September. Also, under the temporary extension, anyone with a Google account was able to create free meetings with up to 100 people.

Speaking to tech portal The Verge, Google confirmed that it was not making any changes to the Meet promo, or advanced features. So after the last date, things are going to go back to the way they were before the extension.

In its drive to push Meet out, Google had extended access to advanced features for G Suite and G Suite for Education customers. This will also end on 30 September. Under the extension, users could arrange meetings with up to 250 participants and conduct live-streaming with up to 100,000 people within a single domain. This also gave free users the ability to save meeting recordings to Google Drive. Now in order to access these features, users would have to pay for the enterprise level of G Suite. This is available for $25 per user every month.

Google had also pushed a shortcut of Meet on Gmail. Now every Gmail user has a dedicated section to quickly arrange a meeting. This was done to compete with the increasing popularity of Zoom and other video conferencing platforms during the pandemic. More and more people had to opt for the remote working format to adapt to the new normal and Google tried to float better in the market with the free feature extension.

Source- https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/google-meet-to-limit-video-call-duration-to-60-minutes-for-free-users-starting-30-september-8858811.html