Google Meet went free for all users back in April, riding on an exponential growth triggered by a surge in remote working and online learning due to the coronavirus crisis. However, Google originally planned to offer an unlimited meeting duration (technically, the upper limit was 24 hours for each meeting) facility only until September 30, after which the maximum length of a meeting will be reduced to 60 minutes. However, it appears that the folks over at Google had a change of heart. The company has today announced that it won’t limit meetings to a 60-minute duration until March next year for users on the free tier. So, users still have another six months to enjoy (or suffer) online meetings on Google Meet that can last as long as 24 hours.

“As we look ahead to a holiday season with less travel and important milestones like family reunions, PTA meetings and weddings hosted over video, we want to continue helping those who rely on Meet to stay in touch over the coming months. As a sign of our commitment, today we’re continuing unlimited Meet calls (up to 24 hours) in the free version through March 31, 2021 for Gmail accounts,” Google Product Manager (Google Meet), Samir Pradhan, wrote in a blog post. 

Those who are on the free tier of Google Meet can conduct meeting with up to 100 people, while the individual paid tier and G Suite Enterprise versions increase the number of participants to 150 and 250 respectively. You can check out the differences between the free, individual paid plan ($8/month) and G Suite Enterprise plans here. 

A couple of days ago, Google also announced that the Google Meet app for Android and iOS has finally received the noise cancellation feature that was rolled out for the web version back in June. The tool intelligently suppresses background noise captured by the phone’s audio input such as typing, a door being shut, or the sounds coming from a nearby construction site.