Google requiring all ‘G Suite legacy free edition’ users to start paying • Hacker News Board

Re: Google requiring all ‘G Suite legacy free edition’ users to start paying

#811

Post by anticensor » Thu, Jan 20, 2022, 8:43 PM UTC

nighthawk454 wrote: post #313

area51org wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not roped in (good, albeit not free, alternatives exist), but yeah, this is just a fuckover. I've been paying google for GDrive for some time now, and that's about to end. It's back to Dropbox. I know, I don't have to do this, but the hell with google. I'm done. This is nothing short of a needless f---over, and I want as little to do with them as possible.

Not _absolutely_ roped in, but practically, yes. The cost of switching is ridiculously higher than the cost of just paying up - it's not a realistic option. Which, considering they also control how hard it is to switch, is a bit artificial. It would be a little different if they did this to _everyone_ and completely removed the free @gmail plans. But instead they're targeting GSuite users when @gmail plans are _right…

Paid gmail.com would be commercially equivalent to a wholesale prepaid deal for Google searches.

Re: Google requiring all ‘G Suite legacy free edition’ users to start paying

#812

Post by vesinisa » Thu, Jan 20, 2022, 8:43 PM UTC

bmarquez wrote: post #185

vesinisa wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and Hacker News calling it "killing for existing customers" is ridiculous. No service or access is being "killed" here - they are simply asking to start paying for it like everyone else.

One of the problems is that people who paid for Google Play purchases and other services have no way of migrating them to a free Gmail account.

Well not to a Gmail account (since you can't change your Google account email address), but your Google account and associated purchases is not deleted: https://support.google.com/a/answer/1257646

Just set up your MX with some other service if you are not happy with Gmail, or start running your own SMTP server.

Re: Google requiring all ‘G Suite legacy free edition’ users to start paying

#813

Post by drewda » Thu, Jan 20, 2022, 8:44 PM UTC

celso wrote: post #791

If you interested in Cloudflare's Email Routing https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-routing/ we're mass enabling the zones that have asked for Beta access and will be going GA soon. Email me at celso@cf if you can't wait; we'll try to prioritize.

This is a very interesting option for handling incoming email from a personal domain or two (especially since it's from an established company, rather than a random individuals's email forwarding service :)

Does Cloudflare have any options for handling outgoing email? If not, I assume you still have to set up your actual email host in a way that can send through all the vanity domains, with appropriate DKIM records, etc.

Re: Google requiring all ‘G Suite legacy free edition’ users to start paying

#814

Post by whatch » Thu, Jan 20, 2022, 8:44 PM UTC

MarkusWandel wrote: post #785

I have four active email users in my free "legacy edition" vanity domain workspace. I am not willing to pay USD4x6x12 per year to have this continue to work. Looking around for the most affordable alternative for four active email accounts brings me to... Microsoft! Microsoft 365 Family Edition. Like a lot of salary drones I use Microsoft products at work, so I get a discount. It is sad to be paying for full Microsof…

I was subscribed to paid g suite for more than 2 years and only used custom domain email. When Apple released iCloud+ [0] or whatever it is called, I immediately migrated there and am really happy with it.

You will probably need to subscribe to some iCloud plan and have an apple device. But if you already use those, you are good to go.

[0] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212514

Re: Google requiring all ‘G Suite legacy free edition’ users to start paying

#815

Post by etaioinshrdlu » Thu, Jan 20, 2022, 8:45 PM UTC

cosmotic wrote: post #796

etaioinshrdlu wrote: post #786

I find the outrage here quite amazing. This tier has been deprecated for about 10 years already. Furthermore, the costs to upgrade are not egregious, most everyone here would not have a big problem with it. Also, it's not like one is losing one's email address -- you control the domain...

I find ~$1000 a year for just email accounts for three humans to be egregious (the non-humans are service accounts for things like NAS, printer, or TeamCity/Jenkins).

I think if you're the kind of person to have an email address on their domain for their printer, you shouldn't feel bad about putting some effort into hosting your email outside of Gmail.

Re: Google requiring all ‘G Suite legacy free edition’ users to start paying

#816

Post by danielx » Thu, Jan 20, 2022, 8:45 PM UTC

bgidley wrote: post #790

If you want to keep the google accounts working for things that free (photos, YouTube etc) you can switch first to the business essentials plan and then to the cloud identity plan. Then you can move the email elsewhere but the google accounts still work. This was essential for me as I used g suite for my family and some are using it for photos.

Yes, this is the way.

Info about Cloud Identity Free: https://support.google.com/cloudidentity/answer/7319251

Steps for adding Cloud Identity Free: https://support.google.com/cloudidentity/topic/7555155

You will only lose access to Gmail and Calendar, though make sure you migrate email and calendar before moving to Cloud Identity Free.

Disclaimer: i haven't followed the steps myself since i'm paying for a personal Workspace account since a few years ago.

Re: Google requiring all ‘G Suite legacy free edition’ users to start paying

#817

Post by Spooky23 » Thu, Jan 20, 2022, 8:45 PM UTC

PradeetPatel wrote: post #745

asciimov wrote: post #742

It's sad that the MBA's have finally taken over at Google, and now they have to squeeze every last penny out of their customers (on top of all the ads they sell). The worst part of all this, is most of us casual users just want to do email, nothing else. I personally don't have a high enough volume of email to even warrant paying out for most services.

Why do people speak of MBA as if it is a bad thing? Serious question, in India it is often seen as an extremely prestigious title and its a gateway into a high paying position. Or is there a cultural difference I'm not understanding?

When a business stops growing, the MBAs drop in with their spreadsheets and metrics to optimize the operational aspects of the business to get whatever the goal is.

Consider the Google strategy; I can pay $7/mo for Google Workspace email with a small quota, or pay $8 for 2GB storage and email that they give away for free. The $7 premium is for the domain.

My guess is they are seeing revenue growth slow down as Apple slowly chips away and SMB business and Microsoft continues kicking ass with O365. Somebody will get a KPI hit, get their bonus, and take off.

Re: Google requiring all ‘G Suite legacy free edition’ users to start paying

#818

Post by fuzzy2 » Thu, Jan 20, 2022, 8:45 PM UTC

MarkusWandel wrote: post #785

I have four active email users in my free "legacy edition" vanity domain workspace. I am not willing to pay USD4x6x12 per year to have this continue to work. Looking around for the most affordable alternative for four active email accounts brings me to... Microsoft! Microsoft 365 Family Edition. Like a lot of salary drones I use Microsoft products at work, so I get a discount. It is sad to be paying for full Microsof…

Good luck with that. For home accounts, you’re tied to GoDaddy. Or rather Microsoft via GoDaddy? Who knows. I would NEVER use GoDaddy after reading various experiences around the net.

Also, no aliases. Are multiple domains even possible?

Re: Google requiring all ‘G Suite legacy free edition’ users to start paying

#819

Post by waych » Thu, Jan 20, 2022, 8:45 PM UTC

fuzzy2 wrote: post #777

Aaronstotle wrote: post #767

So if I use gmail for personal email, I now have to switch to a paid plan?

No. This isn’t about Gmail. It’s about G Suite (formerly Google Apps), which was a business offering from the start. It certainly also contains a mail component based on the same technology, but it’s not Gmail. If your address is somebody@gmail.com , you are not affected.

This is still very disingenuous on Google's part.

When many people, myself and family included, first associated our own custom domains with them, there _were_ no "Google Apps" other than gmail. Google Calendar wasn't a thing, neither was Google Docs, Google Sheets, nor Google Meet. Android didn't exist, neither did Fi. Youtube was still its own property with its own separate accounts system.

Later on, when they started building new offerings, including those that became known bundled as "Google Apps", they continued to conflate the account usage with these several other services. When they decided this was something worthy of charging, they promised "free legacy" edition use indefinitely to users, calling them pioneers and champions of the service, as a way to thank them for their evangelism. The growth of periphery services continued, and now legacy users are faced with a hostage situation for all their data and purchases associated with their accounts.

Re: Google requiring all ‘G Suite legacy free edition’ users to start paying

#820

Post by criddell » Thu, Jan 20, 2022, 8:45 PM UTC

theginger wrote: post #784

ankurpatel wrote: post #769

It would be cheaper to go with iCloud+ service which offers custom email domains. I am now considering that after being on the free legacy plan for all of these years. https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud/add-a-custom-domain-m...

I looked at this a while ago. But I discovered quite how tightly looped the apple eco system is. Without an iPhone or a Mac I can sign up for a free iCloud account, but bizarrely I cannot have a paid one.

Did you install iCloud on your Windows PC?