After offering several exclusive features to its Pixel smartphones, Google has once again given a gift to customers of its Google One paid storage service: all paying subscribers will now have access to its VPN, regardless of their plan.
The gift list for Google One subscribers is growing! In a March 8, 2023 blog post, the web giant just announced that users of its paid cloud storage service will now have access to its VPN, even for its cheapest plan at €2 a month. Until now you had to pay 10 euros to enjoy it.
Launched in October 2020 in the United States, the VPN (virtual private network) from Google One works on the same principle as its competitors: the service creates a kind of secure tunnel between your device and the website you are visiting. This virtual private network encrypts your data to reduce the risk of hacking.
However, Google VPN does not allow, like its competitors, to trick the site about your geographic location to access a foreign version of Netflix.
22 countries affected, including France and its neighbors
Since its launch in France a year and a half ago, this VPN was only available to customers of the 2 TB cloud storage plan (10 euros per month) or to owners of a Google Pixel 7 or 7 Pro. Now it adds to the Two other subscriptions offered by Google One: 100 GB at 2 euros per month and 200 GB at 3 euros per month.
This expansion of the secure network service will be available in the coming weeks according to the blog post, in the 22 countries where the VPN is available: in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada in particular, but also in Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, Mexico and of course the USA (full list here).
Therefore, the service should see the arrival of millions of new users at once. They can access it on Android, iOS, Windows or Mac. As a reminder, it is also possible to share the VPN with five other people if your Google account is linked to the subscribed Google One account.
A dark web monitoring service
For US users, Google announces that it also includes a “dark web review“. Specifically, this will scan the underground web that is not indexed by search engines to identify if any of your personal information is available there. This “dark web reportthen it will advise you on how to fix it.
These freebies for One subscribers appear to be part of a broader strategy by Google to make its service more attractive and competitive. Already at the end of February, the company announced that it was offering the Magic Eraser photo editing tool to all Google One customers, as well as automatic HDR mode in video and free delivery of photos ordered from the Google store.
Google is also aligning itself with the packages of one of its main competitors: Apple’s iCloud+, whose “private relayIt offers the security of an Internet connection close to a VPN, being accessible from the first subscription level of 50 GB at 1 euro per month.
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