It’s becoming apparent that cloud storage is the new standard these days, and Google recently recognized a need to help users keep their files in a unified space. With that in mind, Google announced on Monday that it is now offering 15GB of free storage across three of its most-used services:Google Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos. Google Apps users will receive 30GB across the three services.
Google’s new move merges the existing 10GB of storage for Gmail and 5GB for Google Drive and Google+ Photos, so users can file things away across the board. Although it appears unchanged for now, Google will soon update the Google Drive storage page so users can see how they are using their space with a pie chart.
Users will get 15GB free, but can upgrade with plans starting at $4.99 a month for 100GB. Google also made note that users will no longer be limited to a 25GB upgrade in Gmail – any storage upgrades will serve as an upgrade for Gmail as well.
These changes will roll out over the next couple of weeks. There’s been no mention of a staged plan or phasing system, but it appears that users will not have much trouble adjusting.
It’s expected that this change will help users who don’t necessarily use all their storage for certain services. For instance, you may only be using 2GB on your Gmail account, but might be struggling for space for your photos. The change should help in situations such as this.
Do you think this is a good move by Google? Will you make use of the unified storage?