Richard J. Dalton Jr., who runs an academic test preparation company in Vancouver, British Columbia, was a longtime Google user when Google notified some small businesses in January that they would no longer have free access to custom email services and other jobs When applied, he felt it was like betrayal . “After making us depend on the free service, they basically forced the switch to a paid service,” said Mr. Dalton, who first set up Google work email for his company, Your Score Booster, in 2008. Google says G Suite is old Long-term users of the free version (which includes apps like Email and Docs and Calendar) must start paying a monthly fee, usually $6/month per business email address. Businesses that have not voluntarily switched to paid services by June 27 will be automatically converted to paid services. If they don’t pay by August 1st, the account will be suspended. The cost of the fee-based service was more of a nuisance than a financial hit, but small business owners affected by the change said they were frustrated by Google’s clumsy handling of the issue disappointment. They can’t help but feel that the multi-billion-dollar company is squeezing “little shrimp” — some of the first to work with Google apps — for a little money. Google’s decision to charge businesses for free access to its apps is another example of the company looking for ways to generate more revenue from existing businesses, similar to how it sometimes places four instead of three ads at the top of search results, in YouTube videos Squeeze more ads. In recent years, Google has become more aggressive in selling software subscriptions to businesses and competes more directly with Microsoft, whose Word and Excel programs dominate the market. The deadline, originally set for May 1, was pushed back after some longtime users complained about changes to service charges. Google also said that people using old accounts for personal rather than business reasons can continue to use them for free. But some business owners said it was difficult to reach customer service as they considered paying Google or forgoing its services.
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