Google's free unlimited Photos storage offer is an object lesson in anticompetitive behavior that helped drive startups like Everpix and Loom out of the market
@WillOremus https://onezero.medium.com/... Sachin Rekhi / @sachinrekhi : Thinking today about all the photo startups that were previously crushed by Google Photos giving away unlimited storage https://onezero.medium.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
When Google Photos launched in 2015 with free unlimited storage, the giveaway looked like generosity; reviewers at the time called it the best backup-and-sync service available. What it actually did, per this OneZero analysis, was price independent photo startups like Everpix and Loom out of a market where no venture-backed rival could match a free tier backed by Google's infrastructure.
The arc closes with Google unwinding its own weapon: the Pixel 4 already dropped unlimited full-resolution backups in 2019, and now Google is imposing a 15GB cap from June 2021 while grandfathering everything uploaded before then. The subsidy is being withdrawn at precisely the moment the competition it suppressed is gone.
First-order effects
- Everpix and Loom are already casualties — the direct cost of competing against a free tier whose marginal price Google could absorb indefinitely.
- Google's own users face the first tangible reversal: new uploads count against 15GB from June 2021, pushing them toward paid Google One plans or migration.
Second-order effects
- Paid photo-storage services regain pricing room for the first time in five years, though the grandfathering clause keeps existing libraries locked into Google's ecosystem rather than freeing them to switch.
- The episode hands antitrust critics a concrete template — below-cost free tiers as an entry-deterrence mechanism — that regulators scrutinizing platform conduct can cite.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, 'free forever' platform subsidies should be read as temporary instruments of market consolidation rather than permanent consumer wins, with monetization following once rivals exit.
- Storage and compute giveaways by hyperscale platforms may draw the same below-cost-pricing scrutiny long applied to predatory pricing in physical markets.
The trend: Platform giants are increasingly using subsidized free tiers to consolidate markets first and convert users to paid plans after, turning yesterday's giveaway into tomorrow's subscription funnel.