Google is breaking its 'free for life' promise to some G Suite legacy users

If you thought your grandfathered Google account was safe, you might want to double-check your inbox. Google is apparently pressuring long-time G Suite Legacy users to pay for business subscriptions, saying they’re using their free accounts for commercial purposes.

A growing number of G Suite Legacy customers are being told that their personal accounts have become commercial-use accounts and that they will have to pay for Google Workspace subscriptions or lose access to Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Meet, and other core services. Complaints started popping up on Google’s own support forum and Reddit (via TechRadar).

To put this in context, G Suite Legacy Free Edition was Google’s previous free custom-domain email service before the company transitioned to paid Workspace plans. Google ended the free tier for new users in 2012 but allowed millions of existing accounts to remain. Then in 2022, Google tried to force everyone to pay for Workspace subscriptions before partly backing down and letting personal and family accounts stay free under a “non-commercial use” policy.

Now, the problem is back. According to users, they have received emails from Google stating that their accounts were “identified as being used for commercial purposes.” Customers have 45 days to successfully appeal the decision or move to a paid Workspace plan before Google begins suspending services, according to the notice.

If these were just business accounts, it would be less controversial. But many of those affected say they only use the service for family e-mail addresses tied to custom domains. One Redditor said they’ve used a familyname.com domain for relatives without any business activities tied to the domain. Others say they’ve maintained these accounts for nearly two decades, without monetization, storefronts, or corporate use.

The bigger problem is the appeals process. Some say their appeals were rejected automatically or they weren’t really given any explanation. Some are now filing GDPR subject access requests in hopes of understanding how Google has classified their accounts in the first place.

But Google says it’s just enforcing a long-standing policy. G Suite Legacy Free Edition was always meant for “personal non-commercial use,” the company told The Register in a statement, and flagged users could appeal if they thought they had been wronged. Google also notes that it does not use private customer data to enforce the policy.