Google identifies cause of massive internet outage affecting millions

On June 12, 2025, a significant internet outage occurred, impacting various prominent platforms such as Google, Spotify, Snap, and Discord, among others, primarily in the United States. The problems became evident around 2 PM on the east coast, and users quickly reported issues across multiple services, with many relying on Google's infrastructure, particularly Google Cloud. Google acknowledged the outage, stating they were aware of the widespread issues affecting their products including Search, Gmail, and Maps, and informed users through a status update. As the outage persisted, Google also confirmed that third-party companies relying on its tools, such as Etsy, Shopify, UPS, and Roblox, experienced interruptions in their services. Tracking website Down Detector indicated that vast numbers of users worldwide encountered problems shortly after the issues began. The service disruptions elicited frustration amongst users, who took to social media to express their dissatisfaction over not being able to access their favorite platforms during the outage. Google's status page showed a variety of issues affecting their global regions. By approximately 4 PM Eastern, the company reported that it had identified the root cause of the problems and applied appropriate mitigations. However, the timeline for complete recovery remained unclear, as users could still face intermittent issues. Despite the setbacks, Google extended an apology to all affected parties without disclosing specific details regarding the opportunities or failures that led to the disruptions. Other major web infrastructure platforms like Cloudflare also faced complications, although Cloudflare itself did not experience outages. This incident underlined the interdependence of the digital services that many businesses and individuals utilize daily, and the potential vulnerability wrought by reliance on singular infrastructures like Google Cloud. The widespread nature of the outage emphasizes the fragility of internet connectivity and reliability, particularly concerning core providers like Google, that underpin much of today's online ecosystem.