Google on November 11 announced that its cloud storage platform Google Photos will no longer allow for free unlimited storage of photos and videos, starting June 1, 2021, as part of a change to its unlimited High-quality storage policy.
“A remarkable 28 billion new photos and videos are uploaded to Photos every week. To welcome even more of your memories and build Google Photos for the future, we are announcing a change to our storage policy,” Google Photos tweeted.
A remarkable 28 billion new photos and videos are uploaded to Photos every week. To welcome even more of your memories and build Google Photos for the future, we are announcing a change to our storage policy.Learn more here: https://t.co/SuS34HFjAu
— Google Photos (@googlephotos) November 11, 2020
"Growing demand for storage" means Google Photos can no longer honor a years-old policy of unlimited capacity for high-quality images, the company said in a blog post. Storage of images, along with files in Google's document editing services, will instead be capped at a combined total of 15 gigabytes.
However, netizens took to Twitter to express their disappointment over this new development as #GooglePhotos trended high on the micro-blogging site.
Check out a few reactions here:
pic.twitter.com/ydihDtjuY5— Aa (@aamiabdulla) November 11, 2020
I’ve become a photo hoarder since having my son and NOW @googlephotos wants to stop offering free unlimited storage. pic.twitter.com/xyKm215dhB— Megan (@megan_vollmer) November 12, 2020
#GooglePhotos to charge for photo/video back up from June 2021 pic.twitter.com/Mfd1FN0VOQ— ʜᴇ'ꜱ ᴀ ʏɪᴅᴅᴏ (@C_O_Y_S) November 12, 2020
#GooglePhotos is going to be end of free backup storage (15GB) from 1st June 2021 pic.twitter.com/XgKyrQfE5e— Tech Performer (@tech_performer) November 12, 2020
#GooglePhotos charging for cloud storage now pic.twitter.com/2d7NhTsRvU— Mr. Wolverine (@MayorWolverine) November 12, 2020
pic.twitter.com/FGFZIlCE8U— Rishi Mohan (@thelifeofrishi) November 11, 2020
More than 1 billion people use Google Photos each month, but the company estimated fewer than 20% of them will need to upgrade for extra storage in the next three years, reported Reuters.
