Only for heavy business users at first, but is Google’s “everything’s free” mantra starting to sag at the edges?
The BBC reports on Google’s latest move, which will see users of Google Maps embedded on web pages — think businesses, tourist attractions, that sort of thing — charged if they’re using the service more than 25,000 times per day. The suggested charge, according to the report, would be around $4 per day.
OK, most of us are unlikely to personally use Google Maps 25,000 times per day unless we’re seriously lost. Google’s own estimates are that the 25,000+ club consists of only around 0.35 per cent of users, total. Still, it does show that Google’s experimenting with additional revenue sources. Are there Google apps you’d dump if you had to pay, or conversely, those that you’d happily pay for? [BBC]