Changing a Google Cloud billing account can unintentionally break existing Marketplace subscriptions. If entitlements are tied to the original billing account, the subscription may fail or become invalid, prompting teams to make urgent, direct purchases of the same services, often at higher list or on-demand rates. These emergency purchases bypass previously negotiated Marketplace pricing and can result in significantly higher short-term costs. The issue is common during reorganizations, mergers, or changes to billing hierarchy and is often not discovered until after costs have spiked.
Subscription-based billing through Google Cloud Marketplace; defaults to on-demand or direct-vendor list pricing when Marketplace entitlements are interrupted.