What does the news that Micosoft are making 5% of its UK workforce redundant (http://www.paidcontent.co.uk/entry/419-microsoft-laying-off-five-percent-of-uk-staff-in-global-cutbacks/) signify for the outlook of the digital economy? Is it something that should send us all into blind panic or is it just another example of the rather cruel metaphor of a giant of a company simply “shaving off some of the fat”.
Will Microsoft now release 5% less software, will they be 5% less productive, and will the retail price of their products drop by 5%? With a company the size of Microsoft none of these scenarios could possible ever be realized and the main outcome of this culling will probably be a PowerPoint page showing a reduction in overhead costs of x dollars over y years meaning z bonus for whichever financial wizz kid worked out that sacking people makes a company more efficient.
I may be naïve but aren’t Microsoft a massively rich corporation who must almost be a micro-economy in their own right and don’t they say on their website as part of their mission (http://www.microsoft.com/about/default.mspx) that “Every successful corporation has a responsibility to use its resources and influence to make a positive impact on the world and its people.” Dropping thousands of staff because the balance sheet is looking a bit ropey isn’t, to my mind, using all of its resource and influence to make a positive impact.

On March 11th Google issued an email informing Checkout customers that the pricing structure would be changing as of 5th May. Free transaction processing from AdWords has been removed and the simple transaction processing change has been replaced with a tiered model not too dissimilar to other providers ranging from 1.4% to 3.4%+£0.20.

These changes mean that transaction processing changes will increase for all customers who process less that £55,000 per month, in the case of those processing less than £6,000 the charges will double. And that is before you take into account the removal of the free processing. Google stated reasons for the pricing increases as this:

Google is committed to the continued growth and development of Checkout. These pricing changes are necessary in order for us to continue to enhance user features and functionality going forward.

I have always supported Google, their innovation has helped drive our industry forward and this has rarely been at the expense of their customers. I understand that Google must set their prices in a way that allows their business to grow and move forwards, however, I find it disappointing that in the current economic climate that Google have chosen to implement pricing changes that put further financial pressure on many small organisations who are already finding times hard.

Full information about the Google Checkout pricing model can be found on Google’s Checkout Fees page.