Google is deleting old user accounts that have been inactive for at least two years, and tech YouTuber "Mental Outlaw" believes the move signifies that the company is running out of storage—which might indicate the decline of free online service models.
Mental Outlaw explained that many early users of Gmail used the service as a form of cloud storage—saving gigabytes of photos and files on the platform. The tech-focused YouTube influencer said that Google's initiative to reclaim underused space and abandoned accounts indicates that the free storage services are becoming too costly for Google to maintain.
Cloud storage by type in 2023. Source: MarketsandMarkets.
According to the influencer, the growing popularity of adblocking services and internet browsers like Brave—which prevent data harvesting by big tech companies like Google—have significantly affected revenue for big tech firms that collect and monetize user data.
This downward pressure on revenue has, in turn, threatened the current business model of offering users free online services in return for collecting user data.
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Google announces old account deletion
The tech giant announced the policy change at the end of 2023—informing Google customers that the company would begin deleting user accounts in December of that year—starting with accounts that were created and never used and deleting other dormant accounts in phases. When the policy was first announced, Google explained that it was deleting accounts to strengthen security measures:
"Abandoned accounts are at least 10 times less likely than active accounts to have 2-step verification set up. Meaning, these accounts are often vulnerable, and once an account is compromised, it can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content."
At the time, Google also announced that the policy would only affect individual accounts and not affect accounts used by schools or business enterprises.
Alternatives to big tech storage and services
Platforms like Functionland, a decentralized cloud storage solution, have emerged as alternatives to the “rental web" by providing users more autonomy over their data.
Dominant players in the cloud storage ecosystem. Source: MarketsandMarkets.
Additionally, projects like Irys are also tackling the problem of centralized data storage by challenging incumbent big tech companies like Google and Amazon Web Services for market share.
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