Google Meet is now free-to-use for all Google account users

Google Meet graduates from just being a videoconferencing solution for G Suite enterprise and education customers to now being free-to-use for anyone with a Google account. Google Meet supports up to 100 people and a single host on a single free meeting that can last any amount of time. But after September 30, meeting lengths will be restricted to 50 minutes. 

The service will gradually open up Meet to more users, and you can get an alert through this link to know when your account can get access. 

A pain point could be requiring people to have Google accounts to use Meet. But this gives the host better control as well as potentially avoid Zoombombing (or having unsavoury characters crash meetings and harassing participants). Users' names and profile pictures will show up on calls, but their email addresses won't be displayed.

Some of the other safety features Google Meets will get include not getting landline dial-in numbers for meetings as well as putting people not explicitly added to a meeting via a calendar invite into a green room first when they try to join the meeting. Only the host can approve their entry into the session.

Google Meet calls go through Google's servers, which means it gets features like automatic captioning and compliance with the company's legal requirements when it comes to sharing users' data. Meet will not use its consumer data for advertising to users. And those using the free service will not have their calls stored. Businesses and schools are the only ones to get exclusive access to recording meetings.

Recently, Google Meet added the Gallery view style, which Zoom has widely popularized. This new mode is available on mobile and in browsers.

Source: Reuters + The Verge