The world’s largest search engine, Google also offers a host of other services. From Gmail, to Google Maps, to Google Meet, and Drive, services provided by Google are widely used by professionals, students, and the likes. Google has also developed the Chrome browser as well as Android for smart phones. It also provides services like Google Play for apps and Adsense for advertising.
On Thursday, August 20, thousands of users faced trouble trying to access Google Services. Users from parts of the U.S, Japan, Australia, and Malaysia had trouble with these services. However, users from India seemed to be the worst hit. Several Indian users took to social media platforms like Twitter to complain about the issues they were facing with these services. Services like Docs, Meet, Drive, and Gmail seemed to take the hit. More than 10 services were reported to have issues during the outage.
While some users complained that they were unable to log in to Gmail, others complained that Google’s email client wasn’t allowing users to send emails or even attach files. If users tried to upload an attachment, the process was extremely slow. Once uploaded, an error message asking the user to check the network popped up on the screen.
Another issue faced by users was the absence of new emails. According to a few users, new emails were not visible in the app. Users also complained that they were not being able to upload files to Google Drive. While some users first thought they had an issue with their WiFi, others panicked about being unable to meet EOD targets.
Some users tweeted that Gmail and Google were working on mobile networks, not broadband. Certain users also updated screenshots of Google’s reply. It stated that its top priority is system reliability with the company making constant efforts to improve its systems.
DownDetector, a web monitoring site, validated that the outage reports began at around 4:40 AM GMT. The site also confirmed that the outage was global. Google acknowledged the outage and mentioned that it is investigating the incident.
At its peak, almost 2,737 users complained of issues with Gmail on DownDetector. Issues like sending emails on Gmail, recording Google Meet sessions, creating files in Drive, user upload issues in Admin console, issues with sites adding new pages, issues with voice mail, and issues with posting messages were noted.
After a few hours of the outage, services were restored for users. The tech giant apologized for the outage that ended up affecting professionals all around the globe. The company apologized while thanking users for their support. However, no explanation regarding the reason behind the outage was given. This is the second time since July that a major outage has been reported on Google. July saw several users facing login issues on Gmail. Moreover, with a major chunk of the workforce working from home, an outage like this could negatively impact workplaces.
As recently as last week, Google introduced a refurbished interface for its G Suite users. The changes included dedicated tabs for Meet, Mail, Chat, etc., for a more organized layout.
