Google Apps 不再Free

今日收到Email, 帶出嘅主要信息係：

“从今天起，我们不再接受 Google Apps 免费版本（即您当前正在使用的版本）的新帐户注册申请。由于您已经是我们的客户，因此这一更改不会对您的服务产生影响，您可以继续免费使用 Google Apps。“

或許市場需求增加，Google 將 Google Apps 重新定位，只留下 Google Apps for Eduction 同埋 Google Apps for Business, 將之前Google Apps free edition 改為單獨的Personal Account。

此舉或會對很多初起步嘅公司帶來額外支出。

Changes to Google Apps for businesses

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

Posted by Clay Bavor, Director of Product Management, Google Apps Google Apps started with the simple idea that Gmail could help businesses and schools work better together without the hassles of managing software and servers. As we grew from a handful of customers to a few hundred, we expanded to offer a premium business version of Google Apps. Fast forward to today and Google Apps is used by millions of businesses. We’ve also added versions for governments, universities and schools. When we launched the premium business version we kept our free, basic version as well. Both businesses and individuals signed up for this version, but time has shown that in practice, the experience isn't quite right for either group. Businesses quickly outgrow the basic version and want things like 24/7 customer support and larger inboxes. Similarly, consumers often have to wait to get new features while we make them business-ready. With this in mind, we’ve decided to make things very straightforward. Starting today for all new customers:

• Individuals wishing to use Google’s web apps like Gmail and Google Drive should create a free personal Google Account, which provides a seamless experience across all of our web services on any device.
• For Businesses, instead of two versions, there will be one. Companies of all sizes will sign up for our premium version, Google Apps for Business, which includes 24/7 phone support for any issue, a 25GB inbox, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee with no scheduled downtime. Pricing is still $50 per user, per year.

Please note this change has no impact on our existing customers, including those using the free version. And as before, Google Apps for Education will be available as a free service for schools and universities. Also, as the first cloud productivity suite with FISMA certification, we’ll continue to offer Google Apps for Government for $50 per user, per year. With focus we’ll be able to do even more for our business customers. We’re excited about the opportunity to push Google Apps further so our customers can do what matters most to them–whether that’s scooping ice cream, changing the face of healthcare or contributing tolifelong learning.