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Google users on Monday reported a brief outage that disrupted services such as YouTube, Gmail, search engine, and Google Meet.
Downdetector logged more than 10,000 complaints regarding issues with YouTube and Google. Most services have resumed, although a few users continue to face problems. Many turned to social media to check if others were also struggling to access services.
Several of Google’s online productivity tools, which include Google Calendar and Google Docs, were also reportedly interrupted. The company’s status page said the issue began at 8.38 a.m. EDT.
The company said: “We are experiencing an issue with Cloud CDN, Cloud Load Balancing, Hybrid Connectivity.
“The issue is mitigated and our engineering team continues to investigate the issue and are monitoring for the residual impact.”
Cloud CDN helps website loading speeds by caching content in various locations, so any disruptions can result in slower page loading times. Cloud Load Balancing helps prevent server overload, and any problems with it can cause delays and crashes for the websites it serves.
Some users on X joked about the outage. For example: “Trying to Google if Google is down… Think I answered my own question.”
Another added: “Google is going to use AI to make a technological [breakthrough] and change the way planet works? Try getting your email service to work first, then we’ll talk global domination.”
Trying to Google if Google is down… Think I answered my own question.
— MaFt (@MaFt) August 12, 2024
Google is going to use AI to make a technological breathrough and change the way planet works? Try getting your email service to work first, then we'll talk global domination. https://t.co/Ev9LqO8nXQ pic.twitter.com/jIe1T1oFaq
— Teacher Dude (@teacherdude) August 12, 2024
The most recent significant Google outage happened in May, affecting Google News on both desktop and mobile platforms.
On the heels of Microsoft’s CrowdStrike outage
Around 8.5 million devices were recently impacted in what was described as “the largest IT outage in history,” after a faulty CrowdStrike update that brought down most of Microsoft’s services just weeks ago.
In a post-mortem report, the cybersecurity firm investigated the error that led Windows machines to crash on July 19, admitting that there were issues with the testing process.
In a post on X, the firm wrote: “We apologize unreservedly and will use the lessons learned from this incident to become more resilient and better serve our customers. To any customer still affected, please know we will not rest until all systems are restored.”
Featured image: Canva
