Mountain View, California — In a surprising turn of events, search engine behemoth Google over the weekend has pulled the plug on its web-based office software, abruptly ending availability of a free version of its Google Apps online application suite for small businesses, including Gmail, as it aims to increase revenues outside its core web advertising business.
As a matter of fact, when Google introduced Google Apps in August 2006, it was “a service available at no cost to organizations of all shapes and sizes.”
But that is no longer true, the “free” was a fearsome price point that opened doors, for umpteen companies, small ones at first, start thinking the unthinkable: Maybe there is an alternative to paying for Microsoft Office.
However, now onwards, Google Apps is no longer available at no cost. The free ride has ended: You get what you pay for because you cannot get what you did not pay for. Now, instead of having a choice between a free and a premium version, businesses wishing to use Google Apps Premier Edition, which subsequently was rebranded Google Apps for Business, will now have to pay $50 per user, per year.
The web search giant in a blog post mentioned that now even small businesses with ten or fewer users will now be charged $50 a year — the same rate paid by larger businesses — to use Google’s Web-based tools, which include e-mail, word processor, spreadsheet and presentation graphics tools.
In fact, the package “Google Apps for Business,” the company’s paid offering is awesome, which provides email, calendar and online office suite as an all-in-one service, allowing them to be used on private domain names and adding features such as 24-hour phone support. It also offers features such as an archiving service and additional storage for extra fees. In addition, the paid package includes round-the-clock telephone support, a 25GB inbox, and the company’s uptime guarantee.
However, Google Apps will remain free for individual users, as well as existing business customers that currently use the free version can continue to do so under the same terms.
Typically, the move will allow the Web giant to focus on the quality of the business user’s experience, Google explained today in a company blog post.
“When we launched the premium business version we kept our free, basic version as well,” Clay Bavor, director of product management for Google Apps, said in the post. “Both businesses and individuals signed up for this version, but time has shown that in practice, the experience is not quite right for either group. 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.”
Nevertheless, the company did not revealed user numbers for the service, but said last year in a blog posting it had over 40 million users, although the majority of those are believed to be non-paying. Google competes with Microsoft’s “Office 365” online service, which offers an email service and online versions of its Word, PowerPoint and Excel programs from $6 per user, per month, which are increasingly integrated with the standard software versions.