this post was submitted on 15 May 2026
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[–] tatterdemalion@programming.dev 6 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

Imagine how much of Earth's storage space is marketing emails that no one reads.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago

Whats the fucking point if they only let you attach a 25mb or smaller file.

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

wtf do they need a ph# for? theyve got your email and sms ids(same as ph#). a ph# just seems like a bit of sales pitch food

[–] PearOfJudes@lemmy.ml 16 points 15 hours ago

THATS THE ONLY REASON PEOPLE STILL USE GMAIL! Proton Mail has 1 free gb, I didn’t use it when I had the free plan.

[–] kamen@lemmy.world 19 points 17 hours ago

"You have 15 GB of space as long as you're not using it all"

[–] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 15 hours ago

I blame Microslop

[–] anon_8675309@lemmy.world 4 points 14 hours ago

New users.

Even still, I moved off Gmail years ago. I keep my Google fingerprint minimal.

[–] sunbeam60@feddit.uk 11 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Pay for webmail.

Be the product.

Choose the form of the destructor.

[–] takeda@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 17 hours ago

Why not both? /s

We already see $1,500 TVs showing ads.

[–] HexagonSun@lemmy.zip 4 points 17 hours ago

I see a Ghostbusters quote, I upvote

[–] ony@lemmy.world 8 points 18 hours ago

They really think they can get away with anything don't they... All the mainstream companies do.

[–] DylanMc6@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 18 hours ago (1 children)
[–] manuremy@sopuli.xyz 12 points 17 hours ago

Yes, unless you read into the missinfo campaings. They will follow your local laws, but you can control how much info they have on you.

[–] wraith@lemmy.demanufacture.org 17 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

The market is saturated and "don't be evil" was a long, long time ago...

[–] 8oow3291d@feddit.dk 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

So not giving away 15GB of free storage is evil? How does that even work...?

I thought being evil was about doing, like, evil things?

[–] wraith@lemmy.demanufacture.org 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

It's not about the 15 GB but there was a time where Gmail was new and fancy - and Google's slogan "Don't be evil" as a young and uprising company. As the market got saturated, the business model (or the direction) changed and it's not only Google, M$ also did reduce free space in OneDrive after many years some time ago.

"Don't be evil" was just the referral to this slogan and I don't care if it's 15 GB or 30 GB today as I choose to pay for the services these days instead of just relying on any free(mium) model.

[–] 8oow3291d@feddit.dk 1 points 4 hours ago

I agree that Google removing "don't be evil" is bad. But mentioning that change in this context is a non sequitur.

[–] kernelle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 132 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (6 children)

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"

[–] mechoman444@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It is interesting. I've deleted almost all my emails from my Gmail account and it just won't go bellow 50% full. There is no way to see what is taking up the space.

My mother on the other hand has 3000+ emails and it's at like 15% full. They absolutely do this on purpose.

[–] Kite@sh.itjust.works 11 points 22 hours ago

Did you ever use Google Photos to store your pics? That is what has my Gmail/google storage at 99% full, even though it's been over a decade since I used it and I disconnected it from all my accounts.. except apparently not. You can go through the steps to disconnect, it looks like it works, but it doesn't. I currently have an iPhone, and if I try to delete all the photos in Google Photos, it will still sync with my phone and also delete the same photos on my phone. No matter what I do, I can't severe that connection. And so I'm stuck at 99%

[–] kernelle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Are you sure you're not using anything else google related that might clog it up? That's what I'm getting at. Check google one for a breakdown.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 6 points 19 hours ago

likely backing up to your google cloud with photos, files, essays,,,,etc.

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[–] deathbird@mander.xyz 7 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I would prefer they didn't do this, but I understand. Storage isn't without cost. 5 GB is a lot for email actually. It's probably intended to reduce abuse from bots. We should probably not be using free email anyway.

[–] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 17 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Storage is incredibly cheap, though. If Google used S3, the cost for a 15GB account would be pennies a year, and since they host their own architecture it can be orders of magnitude less. This isn't about recouping costs. This is just about shaking users down for more subscription money.

[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 15 points 17 hours ago (3 children)

It's about tying phone numbers to accounts.

[–] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 3 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

If it were, they wouldn't tie it to storage space. That doesn't matter to scammers and spammers; they'd require it for sending to more than x recipients per month, or for API access, or for any number of other things. The one thing spammers and scammers don't need is storage space. They just need a trusted email gateway and IP address.

[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 7 points 17 hours ago

New Gmail accounts still get 15GB if they provide a phone number. So it's specifically about that.

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[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 4 points 18 hours ago

they need thier AI bucks somehow.

[–] DylanMc6@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Gee, would've been a shame if Google's employees go on strike and would start their own company.

[–] Cantaloupe@lemmy.fedioasis.cc 47 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Thank you Google for TURNING INTO FUCKING APPLE RIGHT AFTER I SWITCH TO A FUCKING PIXEL

[–] The_Almighty_Walrus@lemmy.world 55 points 1 day ago (2 children)

GrapheneOS is built for Google devices. Doesn't really solve the email problem though.

[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 18 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

De-googling your life solves the email problem.

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[–] MrKoyun@lemmy.world 4 points 18 hours ago

Time to create a bunch of throwaway gmail accounts!

[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 52 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Remember the 1GB Gmail reaction? I remember:

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

[–] Stupidmanager@lemmy.world 255 points 1 day ago (21 children)

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

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[–] jqubed@lemmy.world 119 points 1 day ago (25 children)
  • 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.

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