Google One VPN to Shut Down Later This Year

[rcooked]

I used this, and didn't have any major problems since it was included in my Google One subscription. I also utilize iCloud and will just switch on Private Relay now since it is free too. I am hoping that Apple builds out Private Relay a smidge more, as I think it only works with Safari, and there are times with work that I need to utilize Chrome.

Apple seems to do a better job maintaining things longer term, and has more focus on privacy (in my opinion).

 

[CalMin]

Google giveth, and Google taketh away.

(Bummer though - this is the only VPN that doesn't have me doing Captcha's for each Google search)

 

[FaustsHausUK]

... facebook launched one not sure if thats more ironic or less 🤔

And the best part? Facebook actively used that VPN to snoop on users' Snapchat traffic because they are anti-competitive scumbags. https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/26/...racked-snapchat-data-for-project-ghostbusters

 

[sfrsteel]

I think generally more and more people are losing trust in Google so somehow this does not seem surprising.

 

[brio]

The next thing that will shut down is my will to buy or use anything from Google.

 

[MuppetGate]

Strange decision.

Not for Google it isn’t.

 

[Aiii83]

That's common misconception.

Yes, but also not really because it's what certain VPN companies keep telling you (mostly through their YouTube mouthpieces) that's what a VPN does.

I'd say it's a common false advertisement of VPN's more than it's a misconception.

 

[Nekronos]

There's a lot of pressure from governments regarding VPN services. I wonder if Google caved in? Not that I ever heard of anyone using their VPN service....

I suspect there are a decent number of users but it isn't something they really advertised much, I have a google one plan and use the VPN it offers it's quite a good deal and significantly better than iCloud+'s offering in all respects.

 

[MuppetGate]

And the best part? Facebook actively used that VPN to snoop on users' Snapchat traffic because they are anti-competitive scumbags. https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/26/...racked-snapchat-data-for-project-ghostbusters

JesusSchwepped 🙄

 

[GeoStructural]

There's a lot of pressure from governments regarding VPN services. I wonder if Google caved in? Not that I ever heard of anyone using their VPN service....

This is very true; I visited Turkey last year and I was warned that if the police found a VPN in my phone I could get in trouble. The same can be said with China, I visited in 2017 and without a VPN the internet is virtually useless.

 

[Dj64Mk7]

This is a real shame, as I used this particular VPN due to already having a 2TB Google One subscription, but I simply can’t justify it enough to pay an additional fee for VPN software. Although a few years ago, I tried Private Internet Access and it was fine, I guess. Disconnected a lot, though, if I remember correctly.

 

[willzyx]

I genuinely forgot I had access to it. I'll take NordVPN over this.

 

[vgmrm]

And when does the mail kill?

 

[MisterSavage]

I used this, and didn't have any major problems since it was included in my Google One subscription.

Same. Didn't use it often but if I'm on some airport/hotel WiFi then I'd turn it on.

I'm at the point where I don't have faith that any Google service besides the big ones (Gmail, photos, etc) will stick around.

 

[RalfTheDog]

Has anyone checked to see if any of the VPN services are doing SSL spoofing? That would be a fantastic way for them to Hoover up all of your data.

 

[Corefile]

Google search, Gmail, Android. That's the GOOG portfolio. Got lucky with search, Gmail we will give them and stumbled into a pandora's box with Android. GOOG doesn't do things because they're smart but lucky.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Move on, yet another service killed by the Google.

Does Google not recognize that website is a problem for them? They have a very well established track record for killing anything from them within a few years of launch.

I'm a system architect at work. Anytime we talk about the possibility of using a new service or framework from Google, I point to that website and shut down the idea pretty quickly.

We want stuff that's going to be supported for 10+ years - at the very least, we'd like to see signs that it'll be actively supported for 3-5 years before we invest the time in using it. Google utterly fails by that metric.

 

[marco114]

Most people don't realize, when you connect to a VPN, you're putting yourself, and potentially your entire network on their network. A VPN service that you don't run or your company runs is kind of an oxymoron.

 

[izyreal]

One of Google's problems is that they create great products, and then have zero plan to advertise them. It's not shocking that their products fail when the only time people ever hear of them is when they launch and when they are cancelled.

 

[chevyboy60013]

One of Google's problems is that they create great products, and then have zero plan to advertise them. It's not shocking that their products fail when the only time people ever hear of them is when they launch and when they are cancelled.

Google....great products? Well maybe if you like being spied on constantly.

 

[.wojtek]

Google killing a service? I'm shocked! I tell you, shocked! (So glad I migrated off of them)

 

[burgman]

This is very true; I visited Turkey last year and I was warned that if the police found a VPN in my phone I could get in trouble. The same can be said with China, I visited in 2017 and without a VPN the internet is virtually useless.

That depends on your level of self importance. First off, anyone visiting another country and uses their personal devices are a fool, same with public chargers ANYWHERE. After that, its probabilities mixed with a lot of N=1 stories. I don’t worry about government nearly as much as organized syndicates.

 

[qCzar]

I loved that the VPN was offered but it caused so many headaches for me. For one, I couldn't turn the VPN off if the phone didn't have a connection to google servers. Which seemed very odd, the app kept trying to load stuff but it couldn't so it never displayed the tile for the VPN.

Not sure if it was a phone setting with me or a Google VPN issue but I lost connection regularly. Probably once a day if not more. It was a complete hassle to turn off wifi, turn off cellular, turn them back on, restart the phone, etc. I stopped using it because of that.

If Google let users disabled the VPN without needing to connect to Google servers, or if iOS had a better way to manage VPN connections I'm sure it'd be lesser issue for me. But all I had to do was disable the VPN and everything worked fine.

 

[Belisama]

Modern physics clearly stipulates that "Google" and "Private" cannot coexist in the same spacetime.

 

[krspkbl]

Can you blame people for not using it? You'd be wary of using any new Google products because you can't rely on it sticking around. Chrome, Gmail + YouTube are probably the safest but everything else is fair game. That's a major reason I ditched the Google ecosystem.