What on Earth is going with Google’s Gmail? Earlier today reports were rolling in of some users seeing an update to nearly 10 gigabytes of storage – then later came the official word that Google would in fact be rolling out storage increases – if you pay for it! At first it seemed that it would cost users $1 dollar a year to upgrade to 6 gigabytes, then that was raised to $20 a year for the same 6 gigs. They also are offering up to 250 gigabytes if you’re willing to pay $500 a year for it. Does Google have a strategy here or is it changing on the fly?

Having the option for more storage on Gmail (and other Google services) is great, but am I missing something here? Yahoo Email, a service with millions more users than Gmail, offers unlimited email for free. Why is Google, a company with more storage space and more money, charging users for the same service? Forget “Do No Evil” – is Google getting greedy?

Googling Google has a different – and very smart – take on this. Perhaps Google is getting people used to the idea of paying for more storage just ahead of a Gdrive roll out. This “test” would have the added bonus of stopping malicious users from signing up for multiple Gmail accounts just to potentially abuse the free storage.

Maybe there is something to that, but charging $20 for 6 gigabytes – especially when on top of free unlimited email, Yahoo offers its Flickr users unlimited photo storage for $30 a year – is absolutely ridiculous. Sure Gmail is better than Yahoo Mail, but it’s not that much better.

This also would have made more sense had Google announced a partnership a few days ago with Apple on .Mac. The two giants could team up, charge $99, and offer a wide range of features and products to their heart’s content – instead both Google and Apple come off looking greedy.

If you’re into paying for what other’s offer for free, you can head here to purchase your ungraded storage from Google.