When the pandemic struck, the world was stunned. There were no preparations for remote work on such a scale but health restrictions and lockdowns left businesses with no other choice. Videoconferencing became the primary method of communication to maintain some sort of normalcy, whether this be for work purposes or personal calls with family and friends. In an act of goodwill, Google Meet and its premium-locked features were made totally free for everyone. Now that things are beginning to normalize though, the company is looking to bring back the paywall including the 1 hour limit for video calls from free accounts.

What makes Google Meet such a desirable platform for videoconferencing anyway? Users get full access to not only camera-on chats, but also real-time screen sharing, captions, and a bevy of other smart features. All this is done on a secure foundation that ensures user privacy over anything else.

Safety features include but are not limited tothe following: host controls, randomized meeting codes, encryption, no plug-ins, dedicated apps, and collaborations with cybersecurity arms within the Google ecosystem. This makes Google Meet so appealing to the approximately 3 billion minutes’ worth of video calls performed on the site daily.

Now it seems that in order to retain a sustainable profit model, Google has returned the 1-hour limit to video calls on free user accounts. That’s longer than Zoom’s 40 minute cutoff, and the limit only applies to calls with three or more participants – so those 1-on-1s can still last up to 24 hours. We’re not sure who’d be on call for 24 hours in a row though.

It has now become a priority to keep those group meetings short and sweet, prioritizing efficiency and meeting pre-planning over slow, dragging sessions. That could possibly change the way we manage our time and the way we work overall. Considering Google’s widespread influence on the tech scene and productivity, we wouldn’t be surprised. This move was already supposed to happen in September of 2020, but the deadline was extended for 2 years. 

For groups that require longer than an hour of continuous calling, users can avail of a Google One membership. It comes with benefits for all Google-related apps like YouTube, but Google Meet group calls can be performed with up to 100 people for as long as 24 hours. It also adds video recording capabilities to the Meet as well as background noise-canceling capabilities. Prices start at PHP 479 a month.

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