Google is one of the most important companies in the world of technology. Its search engine is used by billions of people, and many of its free services are essential for everyday life, such as Gmail, YouTube or Google Drive . However, there are many others that were free in the past, but are no longer free.
Google Photos
One of the most blatant cases of offering a free service and then converting it to a paid one is the case of Google Photos . Google hooked us all to a service that allowed unlimited photo and video uploads, although the resolution was limited to 16 MP for photos or 1080p for videos. In the case of wanting space without compression, it was necessary to pay, or use the space that we had available in Google Drive.
The worst thing about this case is that Google did not simply pay Google Photos , which would have been even convenient and lawful. The company could have taken out a subscription with which, for 5 or 10 euros per month, it would allow storing photos and video with the same conditions as before.
Google Photos servers
But not. Instead, it is necessary to pay for Google One in its different forms of 100 GB, 200 GB or 2 TB . The latter costs 9.99 euros per month, or 99.99 euros per year. Luckily, there are alternatives to Google Photos, such as Amazon Prime, which costs 36 euros per year, and includes Amazon Photos. This modality allows you to store photos without space or quality limits, although it does limit video to 5 GB, which is perfectly logical.
Additionally, Google promised to offer unlimited free storage on its Pixel phones without compression. Now, those who have a Pixel 3, released in 2018, will see this feature limited, and will only be able to store content with compression under the “storage saver” mode, previously known as High quality. Content that was already uploaded is not affected.
Space in Gmail
Currently, the storage space we have available in Gmail is what we have in Google Drive. If an attachment is larger than 25MB , then Google will store it in our Drive account. And if we delete it, the recipient of the mail will not be able to download it. At the time, Google said the space would never be filled, but free Google Drive space is now consumed instead.
Some features of Google Drive
Last weekend, WABetaInfo revealed that WhatsApp backups are now going to start counting space in Google Drive. Until now, both parties had an agreement that this extra storage did not count, but now there will be a limit on the number of free backups that we can store. WhatsApp photos and videos end up accumulating in the cloud, and it seems that the company does not like that.
G Suite Services
Lastly, Google launched a service called Google Apps for Businesses and Schools in 2006, but removed it in 2012. However, accounts that had the free service to date had remained free under Workspace under the name “G Suite legacy”. free edition». Now, all users will be migrated to paid Google Workspace plans based on usage. The only free plan they offer is for nonprofits and educational settings.
Thus, those who enjoyed Gmail, Drive and Documents and other free apps will have to start paying from May 1, having to choose a plan before that date.