Google Meet update helps you share the burden of hosting

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Hosting a Google Meet video call could soon be a lot less stressful thanks to a new update coming to the service.

Google's video conferencing platform has unveiled a raft of changes aimed at making hosting a Meet call less stressful, but also safer and more intuitive for users everywhere.

This includes the option to add up to 25 co-hosts for a meeting, meaning all the admin responsibility isn't lumped on a single person.

Google Meet protection

Google says that all the extra co-hosts will have access to admin controls whilst on a call, meaning action can be taken a lot quicker than if it were down to a single user.

These controls include the ability to set limits on which attendees can share their screens and send chat messages, and co-hosts will also be able to end the meeting, mute all attendees at once, and control who can enter a meeting.

Admins can use a new "quick access" setting to easily control who needs to request permission to join a meeting, which can be useful if you're speaking to anyone outside of your organization.

Google Meet has also added the ability to search for a specific meeting participant in your list of attendees - which can be useful if you need to assign host privileges, or mute or remove a certain person.

These safety features were previously only available to Google Workspace for Education customers, but all Google Meet users on desktop and mobile will now be able to gain access, with the new features rolling out now.

Google Meet can support up to 100 participants on desktop devices, as well as offering "breakout rooms" for extra discussions if needed.

The update comes shortly after cybersecurity experts warned that more and more phishing scams are using Google Meet links to try and trick victims.

Experts from GreatHorn noted there had been a sharp increase in phishing attacks that rely on Google’s open redirects using Google Meet and Google DoubleClick, allowing threat actors to camouflage malicious links as trustworthy ones in order to bypass many email security solutions.

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Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK's leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he's not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.