Google accounts are offered by Google, LLC for access to a variety of Google-owned services. Gmail, Google+, Blogger, Google Hangouts, and other services all require a Google account to access, though some services such as Search, YouTube, Google Books, Google Maps, and others may be accessed without a Google account. Specific services can be enabled or disabled once an account is created. Creating an account via certain services, such as Gmail, automatically creates a Google account at the same time. However, users may create a Google account linked to a non-Gmail email address if they choose to do so. Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in California during their time in college together at Stanford University. Company headquarters are currently located in Mountain View, California.
Google accounts do not have a subscription cost associated with having the account. Some services, such as Google Ads, that are accessed via the Google account may have separate costs that are associated with those specific services, however. Google accounts can be deleted or closed at any time desired by the user but may not be able to be recovered once the account is closed or deleted. Google accounts are the parent accounts for may services so some services may no longer function if the associated Google account is deleted or closed. Since there is no subscription cost, accounts have no minimum commitment and may be closed via the associated steps at any time. To cancel a Google account, follow the cancellation instructions that are included on this page