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In recent weeks, several companies have adapted free tiers of their products, from Slack and Otter.ai to Google Meet and Heroku. This comes back to a critical question for premium businesses: When should charging start? And does this look different in reduction? Let’s investigate. – Anna
No time for freedom?
Oh, how things have changed.
Whether we’re talking about public markets, venture capital or macroeconomic indicators, you’re already used to reading this on The Exchange. But now there’s another sign of the times: Free rates are becoming less generous.
The email I received from Google made it clear that we are in a different mindset than when the pandemic started. “To help us all stay connected, the email read, “Two years ago we made Google Meet premium available to everyone and announced that we’re temporarily phasing out the 1-hour time limit for group meetings. Starting this month, group meetings with three or more participants will have a 1-hour limit.
If you want to host longer group meetings on Google Meet, you’ll need to sign up for a paid plan. In other words, Google is downsizing.
