Google lastly released a option for people today with “legacy” G Suite Google accounts. Right after in the beginning threatening to shut down free of charge G Suite accounts if end users failed to commence having to pay for the support, Google has totally backed off. After people leap through some sign-up hoops, Google will enable their ~16-year-aged accounts to continue on working. You’ll even get to keep your e mail deal with.
The saga so significantly, if you have not been pursuing, is that Google has a tailor made-domain person account service, presently referred to as “Google Workspace” and beforehand named “G Suite” and “Google Apps.” The provider is largely a normal Google account that allows you use an e mail that finishes in your custom made domain title instead than “@gmail.com.” Today this support is aimed at organizations and expenses funds every single thirty day period, but that was not often the case. From 2006 to 2012, tailor made domain Google accounts were being no cost and were even pitched at people as a geeky way to have an on the net Google id.
In January, some bean counter at Google seemingly recognized this small group of longtime buyers was technically having a compensated assistance for no cost and made a decision this was unacceptable. Google posted an announcement in January declaring these people today “Legacy G Suite consumers” and essentially informed them, “Spend up or get rid of your account.” These consumers signed up for a free Google assistance and stored data on it for as extended as 16 decades, and there had been no indications it would at any time be billed. Google held this decade-additionally of person details hostage, telling people to commence having to pay small business costs for Workspace or experience an account shutdown.
A week later, after the inescapable general public outcry, Google relented rather and reported vaguely that it would eventually present “an solution for you to move your non-Google Workspace paid out information and most of your details to a no-charge option.” Indicating you can expect to be in a position to preserve “most of your info” that you’ve been accumulating for 16 years is a alternatively alarming statement. Google’s one bit of particulars in January was that “this new option is not going to contain quality characteristics like customized e mail,” so you’d have to prevent web hosting your e mail with Google, and you would presumably have to go through some wild Google account conversion method. It then permit these buyers anxiously flap in the wind, with no more facts, for 6 months.
How to Help you save Your Totally free G Suite Account
In May well, Google eventually instructed these users what would occur to their accounts. The new support webpage says, “For individuals and families using your account for non-professional applications, you can go on applying the G Suite legacy totally free version and opt out of the transition to Google Workspace.” The website link for that is below or in your G Suite admin panel. You can want to affirm that your G Suite account is for own use, and not small business use, because companies are even now predicted to pay for Workspace. If you now bent to Google’s will and commenced spending for Workspace mainly because of the January announcement, Google states you must call aid.
The major information from this most current announcement is that Google has made a decision against using people’s custom electronic mail away. A next aid page states, “You can go on applying your custom made area with Gmail, retain accessibility to no-price Google expert services this kind of as Google Travel and Google Meet, and retain your buys and facts.” It now appears like there will be no alterations to your account, presented you click through the “self-changeover” display in advance of the deadline.
The deadline to decide out of an account shutdown, which has changed numerous times now, is June 27, 2022. If you really don’t finish this choose-out by June 27, you will be instantly billed for Workspace. If you will not have a card on file and don’t opt out, your account will be suspended on August 1 and shut down.
The automated enrollment and billing, without specific user consent, is just one of the wilder elements of this tale. If you don’t carefully follow the tech information scene, there’s a fantastic prospect you is not going to know this is coming, and you will both abruptly be billed without the need of your consent or locate that your Google accoun
t has abruptly stopped doing the job.
For a firm whose important company pillar is convincing users to retailer broad quantities of details on its servers, playing game titles like this is a weird determination. At minimum it came to a realistic conclusion.
This tale at first appeared on Ars Technica.