[mikenon]

If I had two groups of users, one that paid for my products and one that didn't, I would move mountains to make sure that paid users weren't excluded from new features. Why does Google continually give free users first access?

[UnFleshedOne]

Free users are test subjects I suppose. It is way easier to test something out if you are not expected to provide support in case it blows up.

[duaneb]

Google gets most of its revenue, by a long shot, from its free users.

[mikenon]

Undoubtedly. However, unless the average free user's eyeballs are worth more than ~$50/yr, any given paid user is more valuable than an identical free user.

[barista]

You do know that the "free users" are actually the product that Google sells to advertisers? The more "free users" there are, the more money Google makes.

[mikenon]

The more paid users there are, the more money Google makes. I'm not seeing your point. Unless a single free user is worth more than $50 yearly, paid users are worth more.