Google’s plan to purge inactive accounts isn’t sitting well with some users

Google said in May that, starting in December, it would begin purging inactive accounts, a warning sign of sorts to people who use multiple logins. Recently, Google has been nudging people over email to remind them what will happen to those stagnant accounts.

Critics of Google’s strategy are making their voices heard.

Sabrina Meherally, CEO of Canadian design firm Pause and Effect, wrote in a post on LinkedIn last week that she received the warning via an email with the vanilla subject line, “Updating our Google Account inactivity policy.”

“I’m of the mind that email subject lines should be explicitly clear, especially if a consequence is attached to a customer’s inaction,” she wrote. “With the number of emails and spam that enter in my inbox, I could have very well deleted it.”

One thing Meherally suggested could be more effective is a “banner on Google.com,” the company’s ubiquitous search engine.

Users commonly maintain multiple accounts, allowing them to use different email addresses for different purposes, and to store online photos and documents in separate places. But for Google, storage space on free accounts is a cost. And the company’s focus this year has been on profitability.

Still, consumers aren’t accustomed to this new form of Google aggression.

“What are you doing Google,” a person using the handle StoneRose95 on X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote in a post, with a screenshot of the email message attached.

The new policy doesn’t apply to schools or businesses using Google accounts. Paying subscribers for services like extra storage are also safe. The standard 15GB allotment should last three years or more for 80% of account holders, Google said in a 2020 blog post.

Keeping that extra account doesn’t require much work. All a user has to do is…