Google to charge small businesses for Gmail

Google has stopped offering its web-based office software, including Gmail, for free to small businesses as it aims to increase revenues outside its core web advertising business. The company plans to start charging new customers with fewer than 10 users $50 per year for the package, which is used by millions of businesses worldwide. It says the reason is that customers are quickly outgrowing it.

"When we launched the premium business version we kept our free, basic version as well. Both businesses and individuals signed up for this version, but time has shown that in practice, the experience isn't quite right for either group," says Clay Bavor, director of product management for Google Apps.

"Businesses quickly outgrow the basic version and want things like 24/7 customer support and larger inboxes. Similarly, consumers often have to wait to get new features while we make them business-ready."

Individual consumers will still be able to use Google Apps, including Gmail and Google Drive, for free, it added, and the change will have no impact on existing business customers.

Read more -here-

• FTC warns three PC tech companies of potential warranty violations
• Netflix is already killing its cheapest ad-free plan
• Meta's pay-for-privacy model is illegal, says EU
• FCC wants to force carriers to unlock phones for consumers
• NASA names SpaceX for scheduled deorbit destruction of ISS
• Verizon to pay $1 million fine over 911 outage