Google

Google now charges $80 per year for Nest Aware, previously $60

The increase makes the service more expensive than competitors like Ring, despite Google’s substantial 2022 revenue.

by
Kevin Raposo
September 5, 2023

Image: Google

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Google is reaching into your pockets and pulling out a few extra dollars. The tech giant has decided to hike the prices of its Nest Aware home security subscription service. The company sent out an email to customers late last week notifying them of the change.

Starting now, if you’re planning on keeping your home safe with the basic Nest Aware monitoring plan, you’ll have to shell out $8 per month or $80 annually. That’s a jump from the previous $6 per month or $60 annually.

And if you’re subscribed to the higher-tier Nest Aware premium plan, not so fast, you didn’t think you were going to walk away from this unscathed, right?

For those of you $12-per-month plan, brace yourselves for a price tag of $15 per month or $150 per year increase, up from $120 annually.

Existing subscribers, don’t think you’re off the hook. These prices will hit your next billing cycle on or after November 6th. And newcomers, buckle up: You’ll be facing the increased rates from the outset.

email from google notifying customers of the price increase on nesst aware — Image: KnowTechie

So, why this sudden change? Well, Google cites factors like inflation as reasoning for the price adjustments. But let’s be honest: with these new prices, Nest Aware plans are now slightly more expensive than competitors like Ring.

Google, the “ad company,” is suddenly concerned about things like inflation. Let that sink in for a minute. It’s almost endearing to see them play the economics card. After all, this is a company that practically has its own money-printing machine in the basement.

In 2022, Google’s revenue was quite a sight to behold. According to Statista, Google Cloud alone raked in a whopping $26.28 billion, making up about 9.3% of Google’s total revenues for the year. And that’s just the cloud segment!

To put things into perspective, Google Cloud posted its first-ever quarterly profit of $191 million on revenues of $7.4 billion in Q1 2022, as per its earnings report. That’s a significant leap from a loss of $706 million the previous year.

Statistic: Global Google Cloud revenues from 2017 to 2022 (in million U.S. dollars) | Statista

Find more statistics at Statista

So, when Google cites “inflation” as the reason for hiking up their Nest Aware prices, it’s hard not to raise an eyebrow.

It seems like the tech giant is doing pretty well for itself, and these price increases might be another strategy to boost their already impressive revenue.

But hey, who are we to question the money-making tactics of a company that literally made billions in 2022 alone?

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