Gmail, Google Drive and Google+ Offer 15GB Free Cloud Storage

Day News

May 13, 2013

Cloud storage has been growing, with new services and stronger competition developing regularly. Google might have realized its importance and has decided to adjust to the trend: Gmail, Google Drive and Google+ are being merged to offer a 15GB free cloud storage for all three platforms. The measure was announced in a blog post by Google’s Director of Product Management, Clay Bavo, who said the changes in Google will be visible within the next couple of weeks.

Aiming for Simpler

Clay Bavo argued that the reason Google was going for this new measure is the growing integration of Google services which makes having separate storage limits senseless. With this new combined storage, it will be easier for users to exploit their free storage smartly, saving pictures on Drive and posting them on Google+ from there or attaching them to an e-mail.
Combined storage also means users can choose to use those 15GB in whatever platform they need it. For those who use Gmail a lot, they can choose to spend all of the free storage space there, while those who use Drive as their storage platform can have access to up to 15 GB of space. With the old system, Gmail offered only 10GB of space, while Google+ and Drive offered up to 5GB.
Another advantage of the joint storage system is that, in case a user decides to purchase more storage, the space applies to Gmail as well, which used to have a 25GB storage limit. Now, anyone can choose to buy up to 100 GB of online storage. Some argue Google’s actual aim is to make the purchasing system easier and to enhance customers’ awareness of their online storage. It could be for this purpose that Google is also updating Google Drive’s page, which now includes a convenient pie chart that displays the amount of free space and the space that is being used over each platform. From this new page, access to purchasing storage is clearer and simpler.
In Clary Bavor’s own words: “With this new combined storage space, you won’t have to worry about how much you’re storing and where.”