Google is down globally; users can’t access Search, Gmail and YouTube

Google applications including YouTube, email and Docs have suffered a rare service outage, with users unable to access many of the company’s services.

The outage started shortly before noon UK time, lasting more than half an hour before being restored.

Users around the world reported problems with Gmail, Google Drive, the Android Play Store, Maps, and more.

Google’s search engine, however, remained unaffected by the problems affecting its other services.

The brief outage had a significant impact on the company’s millions of users, many of whom rely on Google services for basic work apps such as email and calendars.

Users of Google Docs could continue to work if they had synced documents offline, but were unable to use any online features.

It also affected Google-connected smart devices, such as its Home speakers – leading some users to complain on social media of being unable to switch off some lights in their homes.

BBC