Google Cloud changes data transfer fee model with new EU laws on the horizon

Google Cloud has introduced a Data Transfer Essentials plan that allows customers to perform multicloud workload data transfers free of charge. The new program comes ahead of the Data Act, which was introduced in January last year and will take effect on September 12, 2025. 

The EU Data Act was introduced to foster competition in the cloud market, which is highly dominated by AWS, Microsoft Azure, and GCP. The act requires cloud providers to charge data transfer fees “at cost,” but Google has chosen to remove the charge, according to Jeanette Manfra, Senior Director of Global Risk and Compliance at GCP. 

Google’s Data Essentials program aims to encourage cloud adoption

Google’s goal is to make multicloud strategies more accessible to businesses and promote the adoption of its cloud services across platforms. According to Google’s statement, the new plan will also increase operational resilience, reduce downtime, and provide greater flexibility in managing cloud workloads. 

GCP’s competitors, including AWS and Microsoft, responded earlier. Last month, Microsoft implemented the “at cost” fees, and Amazon allowed EU customers to request reduced costs for specific use cases. The “at cost” model will enable customers to perform data transfers across multiple cloud providers at a reduced rate.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority has highlighted before that Microsoft’s licensing practices potentially limit competitors. Conversely, Google has aligned itself with the goals of providing organizations with more freedom to switch providers and eliminate vendor domination. 

The Data Essentials program is configurable via GCP. Qualifying multicloud traffic is metered separately but billed at zero cost. According to Google’s press release, the other traffic will continue to be charged independently within the existing rates. 

Cryptopolitan initially reported that Alphabet’s cloud platform holds approximately $106 billion in current contracts. CEO Thomas Kurian expects about 55% of it to be converted to revenue within two years, bringing in roughly $58 billion.

Customer growth, particularly in the AI sector, has driven momentum. OpenAI and Anthropic are among the largest AI labs relying on GCP for high-performance networking, computing, and secure infrastructure. The platform boasts dedicated chips and GPU clusters critical in AI model training workloads. 

Cloud services represented about 14% of Alphabet’s total revenue in Q2, alongside Google’s advertising business, which is the primary revenue driver for the search engine platform. Regulators in the U.S. and EU are still exploring ways to incorporate competition in the Search and ads business, which Google currently dominates. 

Alphabet stock jumps by 2.4% today 

Recently, Cryptopolitan revealed a new lawsuit targeting monopolistic practices in digital advertising. PubMatic, an exchange operator, filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the firm of giving itself an unfair advantage in ad auctions and limiting competitors’ access. The lawsuit sought billions in compensation and the restoration of market fairness.  

Google’s problems do not end there; the firm has received multiple lawsuits, with the most recent ruling ordering the firm to share search engine data with competitors while it keeps control of Chrome and Android. U.S District Judge Amit Mehta gave the verdict, which potentially offers competitors like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity insight into Google’s search index, click data, and deep learning models, aiding the potential development of AI-powered search engines.

Alphabet’s stock price is up 2.47%, trading at $239.94 at the time of writing. The YTD has maintained a positive change of 25.7% and a year range of $142.66 – $240.59. 

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