Google is testing a 5GB free storage limit for new Gmail accounts unless users add a phone number to unlock the full 15GB.
  • dubyakay@lemmy.caEnglish
    3 hours

    Remember the 1GB Gmail reaction? I remember:

    Damn, this image can now drink alcohol in the US.

  • kernelle@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    5 hours

    5GB is plenty for emails, won’t be an issue for 99% of people.

    THE problem with google’s storage is that they actively mislead consumers:

    1. They bother customers during setup and after with: “Do you want to backup your device?” To which a considerable amount of people react to as “Yeah ofcourse I want that!”
    2. Google does not show any indication where this backup goes or about the eventual payment so people just forget about it.
    3. After some time their gmail and photos app will start to complain: “YOUR STORAGE IS FULL” - with constant notifications. And their Gmail stops working so they can’t receive emails anymore.
    4. These regular people confuse ‘storage’ with internal storage so they start looking for ways to expand their internal storage, which obviously doesn’t do anything.
    5. Eventually they give up and either pay google the ransom or make a new email.

    This is the real dark pattern behind their “free cloud”

  • neclimdul@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3 hours

    “improve security”

    isn’t basically common knowledge at this point phone recovery methods decrease security? How do companies keep getting away with this.

  • 𝕸𝖔𝖘𝖘@infosec.pubEnglish
    3 hours

    seems that Google is testing offering only 5GB [for new accounts] free storage unless you add a phone number to your account.

    iCloud accounts are 5GB if you a phone number. You don’t get to create an account if you don’t add a number.

    I’m not defending this move. It’s on the same level as them yanking their free lifetime unlimited storage on ONE accounts. But I also get it.

  • jqubed@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9 hours
    • Google is reportedly testing a 5GB storage limit for new Gmail accounts, down from the standard 15GB.
    • Users can “unlock” the full 15GB of free storage by adding a phone number to their account.

    Seems they’re trying to get phone numbers this way. Maybe it’s for increased user data, maybe it’s to prevent fraudulent activity, maybe it’s to have more information to give authorities.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
      4 hours

      To be generous, this could just be anti-botting. It sucks that bots suck up so many resources, and make things that could be free not free just to try to stop them. When you can have bots create thousands of accounts trivially, it makes sense that they need to provide some kind of identifier.

      • jqubed@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5 hours

        I haven’t made one in years. When I made my account it was back when you needed an invitation.

      • partofthevoice@lemmy.zipEnglish
        5 hours

        Exactly. I’ve been down this path, countless times, you can’t. I ended up using mailsac.com for temp emails instead.

        This sounds like Google is offering 5free gigabytes to temporary accounts, something that couldn’t be done before.

    • fonix232@fedia.io
      9 hours

      phone numbers were already an almost mandatory addition to new Google accounts. You need to set up 2FA when you make a new account, and the option to use an authenticator app is so well hidden… meanwhile Google still wants your phone number “to authenticate you”, even though it’s less secure than storing your password on a post it on your phone.

      • Doomsider@lemmy.worldEnglish
        9 hours

        I work with homeless people and I discovered you can no longer make email without a cell phone with any major provider. I can’t get them into their social security without an email.

        I was able to find an email provider that didn’t require a cell phone, but then you had to use a cell phone to get past the verification on the social security site. You are absolutely fucked without a cell phone now.

        • TotalCourage007@lemmy.worldEnglish
          6 hours

          Thats really twisted. They really want to make not owning a cell spy a crime. Every time I learn something new about Surveillance it makes me more anarchist.

          • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.clubEnglish
            3 hours

            The problem is that it isn’t an intentional design decision. It just happens to be the easiest way to add a “cost” to sign-up.

          • Doomsider@lemmy.worldEnglish
            5 hours

            Proton doesn’t work with social security website unfortunately. I ended up using Tuta mail but then later got stuck on Login.gov because it required either a cell phone to verify by taking pictures of ID or a desktop with a camera for a video call.

            Needless to say this is not something someone with no computer skills can accomplish. What is even worse is the local social security office stopped taking walk-ins. The solution? You guessed it, use the social security site to login and request an appointment…

      • purplemonkeymad@programming.devEnglish
        6 hours

        I tried to make a second account recently, and it wanted me to scan a qr code with my phone that then wanted to send me a text message. At the same time they were saying “this won’t associate your phone with the account.” I don’t believe that.

        • Bluegrass_Addict@lemmy.caEnglish
          4 hours

          believe nothing any company claims… assume whatever they claim is a lie, and they are about to defraud you because we’ll… that’s all they know how to do… illegal activities, mislead, fraud…

    • magnue@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7 hours

      Kinda fair. Stops botnets just stealing server space.

  • Stupidmanager@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11 hours

    Anyone else remember when Google bragged about never being worried about storage as you watched your storage free count, grow and grow and grow.

    • doingthestuff@lemy.lolEnglish
      6 hours

      I remember. I’m also paying Google $2 a month for 100gb. Fucking bastards. But can you point me to 100GB for less?

    • Elvith Ma'for@feddit.orgEnglish
      8 hours

      TBF when Iade an account there to check it out back then, they offered about 1GB. But that was huge for the time back then

      • TheFogan@programming.devEnglish
        6 hours

        I remember when they offered 1GB, was at a time when I think the standard hotmail was like either 10 MB or 100 MB, and they made the announcement on april 1st.

        Then did it via an invite system.

        You know now that I think of it, I wonder what would have happened if google plus had used a similar playbook to that. Seems like with gmail google knew the “exclusivity” was a selling point. Facebook grew big via similar strategies (only these special college students can get it, ok a few more colleges can), meanwhile google plus was "HEY, USE GOOGLE PLUS NOW, Oh you aren’t using it yet, we made your youtube account a google plus account now, so now you have an account please use it now!

        While social media in general is toxic. I do feel design wise google plus was leaps and bounds ahead of facebook at the time. Circles is IMO the feature that would have made social media actually semi-useful. (IE post your video game content to gamer friends, fun activities to friends, and not putting any job risking content to bosses etc…).

          • TheFogan@programming.devEnglish
            3 hours

            I think so, I don’t remember how long that was. But I do distinctly remember the era where it was shoved down everyone’s throat, which I have to say stuck with people far more. Telling people that they must use it, generated so much hatred for it it was insane.

        • ShellMonkey@piefed.socdojo.comEnglish
          3 hours

          Yeah, the whole ‘you now have a mandatory account’ made for a mad scramble of how to disable every possible scrap of data sent to them. It may have been some small push into the self hosting game too.

          • TheFogan@programming.devEnglish
            3 hours

            I don’t think marketing was wave’s problem… nobody understood what the hell wave was. I used it for a few months… and I can’t tell you what the hell it was.

      • Stupidmanager@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8 hours

        Fellow OG. I remember. The day it was close to hitting 5gb I was watching it like an every guy watches their car odometer as it hits some magic number. It was worthy of celebration.

        1gb back then was 5x the allowed size for my exchange mailbox at work. HUGE!

    • ITGuyLevi@programming.devEnglish
      8 hours

      If you did the annual security ‘check-up’ you got an extra 2GB (maybe it was just 1GB and I did it a couple of years).

    • biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      6 hours

      I mean, OneDrive did the same, except their tactic was just to delete your files instead of store them, instead of increasing it…

  • perishthethought@piefed.socialEnglish
    11 hours

    Update: May 15, 2026 (2:57 AM ET): Google has now confirmed this test in a statement to us while giving more details regarding the feature

    Next up: too many people are exporting their data at once, so now exporting your data costs extra.

  • NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zipEnglish
    7 hours

    I still have my gmail account from 2004 or so. I never delete anything, and it is where all the garbage mail goes, although I use it occasionally for purchases and other things.

    So 22 years of email, never deleting anything, and I am well under 5gb.

    • kungen@feddit.nuEnglish
      40 minutes

      You’re lucky enough to have a non-common email address then and/or unsubscribe from tons of stuff? Mine is a common first name + 2 digits, and I’ve hit the limit a couple times.

      • NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zipEnglish
        16 minutes

        i dont think i ever unsubscribe on that account, I don’t pay much attention to it. common name? No not really so nobody is guess spamming it I suppose.

        I think i have a ton of emails from places the no longer exist! I outlasted them!

  • woelkchen@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8 hours

    Anyone old enough to remember that Gmail launched with “unlimited” storage?

    • NoSpotOfGround@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7 hours

      IIRC, they launched with 1GB (which was ridiculously much for the time) and later only had “unlimited” in the sense of “continuously slowly increasing”. Until they reached 15GB and never budged from there again.

      • VinegarChunks@lemmus.orgEnglish
        7 hours

        The 1GB Gmail storage was initially announced on April Fool’s Day and it was quite the topic of discussion whether it was real or not.

        A year or two later they upped it to 2GB and also announced this on April 1

    • NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zipEnglish
      7 hours

      They never did. You are thinking of photos.

      But I do remember thinking 1gb and it growing over time was worth implementing GmailFS and using a free gmail account as a “get to it anywhere” file system I could mount on Linux.

  • MightyPez@fedia.io
    11 hours

    I transitioned to a custom domain backed by iCloud some years ago but just kind of let the Gmail sit around because it a) functioned as a decent catch all for garbage and b) I was just too lazy to move over some less important accounts to the new email.

    This is a good reminder to migrate the last of it over and let the gmail account atrophy.

      • favoredponcho@lemmy.zipEnglish
        6 hours

        Do they let someone else sign up for the address if you delete it? This is honestly the only reason I haven’t deleted my Gmail accounts. Barely get anything but old spam there now.

    • machine2918@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9 hours

      Or just do like me, forward the mail and have a rule delete the mail after. I have my own domain, a Google (🤮) account AND an empty Gmail-inbox 🙏

  • Dead_or_Alive@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4 hours

    America hasn’t been a democracy in a long time. What we vote for and the legislation that is passed are two different things.

    Trump is probably the most explicit example of this. He ran on lowering prices, no wars and cheap energy. Yes you are an idiot if you believe him, but many did. What Trump is delivering is not what the people wanted. Many other politicians make the same empty promises or corporate propaganda gets the gullible in line to support what the elite want.

    The populace gets angry and the other party takes power. But nothing changes and

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746

    • chunes@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2 hours

      That’s cool and all but what does it have to do with the size of gmail storage?