On June 12, 2025, a massive internet outage sent shockwaves through the digital world, disrupting a wide range of popular websites and apps across the globe. The outage, which began around 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time, was primarily traced back to issues with Google Cloud services, affecting both Google-owned platforms and numerous third-party services that rely on its infrastructure.
The disruption was extensive, impacting major names such as Gmail, Google Meet, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and Google Voice, alongside other services like Spotify, Discord, Snapchat, Twitch, Etsy, Pokémon Trading Card Game, and even the Nintendo Switch Online platform. The ripple effects were felt far and wide, with users reporting difficulties accessing essential tools during the workday, sparking frustration and confusion.
According to data from Down Detector, a platform that tracks online outages, user error reports surged dramatically shortly after the outage began, peaking at over 13,000 reports related to Google Cloud alone. The outage was global in scale, with reports streaming in from the United States, Europe, Asia, and beyond.
Cloudflare, a major IT management company that supports many websites through hosting and content delivery services, also reported a "broad service outage" during the incident. While Cloudflare’s core services were not widely impacted, a spokesperson confirmed that a limited number of their services using Google Cloud were affected. They reassured users that recovery was underway and expected to be completed shortly.
Google’s own status pages initially showed no problems, but as the outage unfolded, they updated to acknowledge the issues across multiple Google Cloud Platform (GCP) products. The company stated that its engineering teams were actively investigating and working on mitigation. At 12:41 p.m. Pacific Time (2:41 p.m. ET), Google announced that engineers had identified the root cause and were applying fixes, although some regions, particularly the us-central1 data center in Iowa, experienced slower recovery.
The outage affected a wide array of Google services, including Google Search, Gemini, Nest, and Workspace apps like Gmail, Google Chat, Google Tasks, and Google Cloud Search. Notably, Google Meet appeared to be the most severely affected service, lingering with issues even as others recovered.
Google Nest, the company’s smart home division, was also hit hard. Its status page reported outages affecting the Nest Home app, setup and pairing processes, and Nest Cam video services, with partial outages extending to video history and live streaming. By mid-afternoon Pacific Time, Nest services had largely returned to normal, with the company confirming that a solution was being rolled out and thanking users for their patience.
Third-party platforms dependent on Google Cloud, such as Discord and Spotify, also experienced disruptions. Spotify's outage was significant enough to warrant separate tracking, highlighting how deeply integrated Google Cloud is within the internet ecosystem.
Throughout the outage, social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) saw a flood of user complaints and confusion. Mashable reporters themselves encountered difficulties accessing Google Meet during the early stages of the disruption. Despite the widespread impact, Amazon Web Services (AWS), another major cloud provider, was not affected. An AWS spokesperson clarified that their services were operating normally and that outage reports on Down Detector did not reflect actual AWS issues.
By around 3:30 p.m. ET, many services began showing signs of recovery. Down Detector's reports started to decline, indicating that the worst of the outage was passing. Google Cloud later confirmed that all services had fully recovered except for the us-central1 region, which was mostly recovered but still experiencing some residual issues. Google promised to publish a detailed analysis of the incident once their internal investigation was complete.
The widespread outage underscored the internet's growing reliance on a handful of cloud service providers. When a significant player like Google Cloud faces issues, the effects cascade rapidly, impacting countless services and users worldwide. It also highlighted the complexity of modern cloud infrastructure, where a problem in one region can reverberate globally.
As the dust settled, companies affected by the outage expressed gratitude for users’ patience. Snapchat’s official X page acknowledged the disruption, stating, "We’re aware that some Snapchatters are having issues - hang tight, we’re looking into it!" Similarly, Cloudflare reassured clients that recovery was in progress and that the core of their services remained intact.
While Google’s public communications were measured, focusing on updates via status pages rather than detailed explanations, the incident has prompted renewed discussions about the resilience and redundancy of cloud infrastructure. Users and businesses alike were reminded of the critical role these platforms play in daily digital life and the potential vulnerabilities inherent in such centralized systems.
In the end, the outage lasted roughly three hours, with most services restored by late evening. Yet for many, the disruption served as a stark reminder of how dependent the modern world has become on seamless cloud connectivity — and how quickly that connectivity can falter.
