According to Reuters, Google’s parent company Alphabet revealed that its Google One subscription service recently surpassed 150 million users. The service, which offers cloud storage and artificial intelligence capabilities, has seen a 50% increase in subscribers since February 2024.
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It is reported that Google has launched a $19.99 monthly package plan that allows users to use artificial intelligence features that are not available to free users. The company continues to offer file storage services at a lower price for the Google One subscription tier, but does not include most of the AI features.
Shimrit Ben-Yair, Google’s vice president of subscription services, said the newly launched AI package had brought in “millions” of subscriptions. It is also worth mentioning that Google One is part of Alphabet’s diversification to get rid of its over-reliance on advertising. Advertising accounts for more than three-quarters of the $350 billion in total revenue in 2024.
With OpenAI’s ChatGPT and AI chatbots such as Google’s own Gemini threatening the dominance of Google’s search engine, Alphabet’s success in the subscription business could play a key role in its long-term financial prospects.
An Apple executive said in court testimony last week that searches on Apple’s Safari browser had slipped for the first time due to the advent of artificial intelligence services. The iPhone maker is looking to roll out an AI-powered search option, which is a blow to Alphabet. Unlike search engines, though, AI interfaces have yet to find a way to seamlessly embed ads. As a result, many companies turn to charging users through subscriptions or on a per-product basis.
In February, when asked on an earnings call how to monetize Gemini, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said, “As you can see on YouTube, we’re going to give users a variety of options over time.” For this year, I think we’re going to focus on the subscription direction. ”