[bartread]

> Finally, the pricing changes are starting to look like a pattern, every time Google deems the usage of a product is good enough, they will increase the price.

To be fair this is hardly new and by no means limited to Google. Any number of SaaS startups that have survived to at least moderate success have done similar things.

Look at UserVoice as an example: started out with a free tier plus some reasonable paid tiers with transparent pricing, then a year or two back killed the free tier and moved to a non-transparent "enterprise" pricing model with absolutely exhorbitant fees.

Plenty of other companies offer free to build their userbase and reach, then either water down the free tier, or remove it entirely. It's practically the SV modus operandi for the last decade.

[marcinzm]

>Any number of SaaS startups that have survived to at least moderate success have done similar things.

Google is not a startup, it is one of the largest companies on the planet.

[bartread]

I don't see how that's relevant: my point is that it's a tactic employed by a wide range of businesses including but not limited to startups and we shouldn't be surprised to see it here. It's not a pattern that has suddenly emerged.