Google announced on Monday that it will be tripling its storage offerings, from 5GB to 15GB which can be shared across GMail, Google Drive and Google+ Photos, for free.  This is great news for those with existing Google accounts, since you no longer need to look for other cloud services to store your data.  And for those looking to move to the cloud, Google offers one of the best free cloud storage deals.  Others offer 2-5GB of free storage, and some even restrict the size of the file you can share, download or upload.  But not Google.

So why did Google decide to up its storage offerings?

3 reasons Google upped its free storage game

SiliconANGLE’s Ryan Cox outlines three reasons why Google decided to triple its storage offerings:

1. To appeal to consumers in the hopes that it would be a gateway for the enterprise to adopt its services.

Consumers love anything that says “FREE” on it.  And who doesn’t?  Would you pass up a free soda from your favorite food joint, or a free bag of chips from your local supermarket?  Of course not!   It’s rare for people to come across free stuff without a catch, so we tend to take full advantage when something’s truly free.

And because the service is free, Google hopes that more people will use it for personal reasons, and eventually in the workplace.  Google is hoping to penetrate the enterprise, a market Microsoft still dominates.  The three Google services included in this storage upgrade allow easy sharing and collaboration, so it’s relatively easy to apply these services to the workplace.

And if the enterprise takes notice of Google’s offerings, it could mean big money for Google, because with large-scale enterprise solutions come more upgrades to premium services.

2. Monetize the consumer directly.

As users continue to use Google Drive, G+ and GMail, files and data will keep piling up.  And for the user that eventually runs out of free storage or merely wants more features added to their existing account, Google offers premium versions to accomodate at scale.

As we’ve seen in the enterprise space, pricing for storage services has become an industry leveler amongst rivals.  Google’s ability to out-price its competitors is an advantage right now, as Dropbox only offers 2GB; Box, iCloud, and Amazon Cloud Drive offer 5GB, and SugarSync only offers a 30-day free trial for that amount of storage.

Compare the major consumer cloud services here, with this pricing chart

3. Grow access points and deliver more targeted ads.

Before, Google offered 10 GB for Gmail and another 5 GB for Drive and Google+ Photos for free, but the new offering now allows the user to decide where they want to spend their 15GB of free cloud storage.  What this means for Google is more access points to learn and analyze consumer behavior, in turn improving the direct channels for targeted advertising.

Google has perfected this strategy with web Search and it wants the same success translated into other areas.  Facebook is doing something similar with its Home Android launcher and Graph Search.  The more people use it, the more Facebook gets to learn about users, thus it knows what kinds of ads to throw at them.

Security and privacy concerns

Anything Google does, security and privacy issues are quick to arise.  Some say that Google has a tendency to overreach and it has been proven in some instances.  So if you’re concerned about the security of your data or you want to store sensitive files in the cloud without worrying about prying eyes, SiliconANGLE CEO and founder John Furrier suggests using Bitcasa.

“Bitcasa is the best option when it comes to privacy and security. The company itself won’t be able to know what you’re storing, employees do not have the ability to see your data. All they see are encrypted bits. This solution is also good for those with huge data needs,” Furrier stated.