Google used to be known for its generous free storage, but today, it’s pushing low-storage warnings way harder than necessary, and it’s clear why — it wants us to pay up.
When Gmail launched on April 1, 2004, many people thought it was an April Fools joke. The included 1GB of free storage was hundreds of times more than what incumbent Yahoo was offering at the time. The absolutely massive storage was a huge reason Gmail took off and spread like wildfire.
I signed up for Gmail in 2009, and I’ve been a happy user for the most part. I’m not a fan of the cluttered user interface of the web app, but you can’t beat the speed and reliability, the spam protection is top-notch, and yes, the storage feels unlimited. Or at least, it used to feel that way.
These days, Google doesn’t show much storage largesse anymore. There are cloud services with more free storage out there. But that’s not the problem. The problem is Google really wants to upsell you on its paid storage plan to the point that it’s becoming a little embarrassing.
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
Photos and Drive have since joined Gmail in Google’s gallery of iconic and immensely popular services. As storage is pooled between Gmail, Photos, and Drive, you can fairly easily run through your 15GB of allotted free storage. When this happens, you need to either delete data or sign up for Google One. The cheapest paid tier is, I admit, quite affordable: $2/month for 100GB of storage. I just don’t want it or really need it.
I actually have 19GB of free storage on my account. Eat your heart out, Google. You foolishly gave me 2GB of extra free storage twice, part of some promos back in the day. Without those extra 4GB I might have caved in already and signed up for Google One.
I don’t know if I am cursed with extra notifications because I’m technically over the limit, but believe me when I tell you — I am paying for it with gray hairs.
Sometime in the last couple of years, Google started bombarding me with notifications about my low storage and how I’m in imminent danger of losing access to years of emails, precious personal photos, and various digital keepsakes from my Google Drive.
Google knows it’s easier to accept yet another small subscription than to deal with the constant notification hassle.
Some of the messages are pretty mild. “Account storage is almost full,” reads a notice in my Google app settings. A red alert symbol lives peacefully in my Drive sidebar.
Others are downright annoying. The other morning, I was uploading a handful of tiny Excel files to my Drive, and I immediately got a message about my worryingly low free storage levels.
I’ve always been terrible at math, but fortunately, Google has a brilliant calculator built right into Search. I quickly figured out that I could still upload about 700,000 5KB Excel files to Drive before I actually ran out of storage.
Yet, Drive insists I need to “Manage storage,” or else. I am properly concerned at this point. No, honestly, I’m just annoyed. I dismiss the message and go about my business. I upload another minuscule file and, surprise, the message I dismissed with prejudice just seconds before is back.
Okay, now Drive reminds me every single time I upload a file that I’m almost delinquent and I need to “manage storage.” So I throw up my hands and accept I need to add more. The nagging has worked.
On the storage page, large, angry-looking red text reminds me I won’t be able to create or edit files when I’m out of storage. It oozes inevitability. But I am cheap and stubborn, so after perusing the options for a few seconds, I close the page and switch to checking my emails. Bad idea. I could lose access to my 16 years of Gmail history, I am warned. But you’ve got to appreciate the personal touch.
Google’s incessant upsell even appears in places you would never expect. A message in the WhatsApp settings reminds me I’m a storage pauper, because the app backs up its data to Google Drive.
Google says your storage is almost full! What do you do?
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I turned 40 recently, so there’s a chance I’m becoming the embodiment of the “old man yells at cloud” meme. Well, in my case, at cloud storage. But to me, Google’s heavy-handed techniques smack of desperation at worst and a misguided obsession with revenue at best.
I am sure these techniques work. In fact, my wife immediately signed up for Google One when her account got almost full because it’s easier to accept yet another small subscription than to deal with the constant notification and pop-up hassle. And that’s exactly what Google is banking on, and ultimately making bank on. And it’s not alone — Google’s peers are increasingly relying on subscriptions to keep revenue growing and shareholders happy.
There were probably a few meetings in Mountain View where someone questioned whether it’s really necessary to show a nagging message every single time users upload a file to Drive. That person lost the argument, and here we are.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Google making money from its services. I’d consider paying more than $2/month if Google didn’t use manipulative tactics, reminding me of those needy antivirus pop-ups I had on my PC back in 2004.
And just like that, we’ve come full circle. Back in 2004, Gmail took off thanks to the generous free storage, leaving incumbents in the dust. Two decades later, Google is the incumbent, and now it’s the one squeezing users.
