A startup runs ad hoc analytics in BigQuery, and query volume is unpredictable. Its finance lead wants costs that rise and fall with how much data each query reads, with no fixed monthly commitment. Which BigQuery billing approach fits?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
On-demand query pricing bills each query by the volume it scans, so spend follows usage with no capacity commitment. Storage is billed separately based on the data kept. Reservations and capacity commitments charge for slot capacity regardless of how much data a query reads, which suits steady, predictable workloads rather than unpredictable exploratory use.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Slot reservations bill for dedicated compute capacity over time, whether or not queries use it. That fits steady workloads, not an unpredictable, pay-per-use profile.
- C. Storage pricing charges for data kept at rest. It does not meter the data read by queries, so it does not answer the question about query spend.
- D. A fixed subscription for slots is a capacity purchase, not per-byte billing. Spend stays flat even in months when the analysts run few queries.