In October 2020, Google added a new feature as part of its Google One cloud storage service. It was simply called VPN by Google One and was included to give people a simple way to encrypt their internet data. The service was available for subscribers who paid for plans that included 2TB of cloud storage and above.
However, that service will soon no longer be available for those uses. 9to5Google reports that Google One subscribers received an email this week informing them that VPN by Google One will be shut down sometime "later this year".
The email to Google One users did not offer a specific reason for the shutdown of the VPN feature. However, according to a statement from a company spokesperson to 9to5Google, it"s being closed down because the team "found people simply weren’t using it." The statement added that the removal of the feature will let the team "support more in-demand features with Google One."
While the VPN by Google One feature will soon be unavailable, owners of Google"s Pixel 7 smartphones and above will still be able to use their built-in Google"s VPN service for free. Google will also continue to offer a VPN feature for subscribers to its Google Fi wireless service.
There were recent reports that Google"s VPN services were messing up the DNS settings in Windows 10 and 11 with its own settings. Google has not stated if this was one of the reasons behind the shutdown of VPN by Google One.
In addition to the deprecation of VPN by Google One, the company also revealed in its email that it will stop offering free shipping for some print orders for its Google Photos service in Canada, the UK, the US, and the EU. The free shipping offer will end on May 15.
In what is likely not a coincidence, Google also announced it would offer free access to many AI-based features available in its Photos service to more users on May 15. That will include limited free use of the Magic Editor tool, which was previously a Pixel exclusive.