Gmail goes down as Google services experience major outage

Google didn't kick off the new week on the best note.

Google services like Gmail, Google Docs, and YouTube went down on Monday morning in a major outage that appeared to have started at about 6:40 a.m. Eastern Time, The Verge reports. The outage was widespread and hit multiple countries, according to Axios.

On Gmail, users trying to check their inbox were met with a message saying that "your account is temporarily unavailable," although Google searches still appeared to be working. All in all, Axios wrote, it was a "huge blow to work productivity" at the start of Monday morning, and The Verge also reported that "users are reporting that smart home gadgets integrated with Google Assistant are experiencing issues," as well.

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By about 7:35 a.m. Eastern, users began to report that Google services like Gmail were working again, meaning the outage ended up lasting roughly an hour. Previously, a Google status dashboard page indicated that "we're aware of a problem" with the services "affecting a majority of users," and Google Workspace said it was "investigating" an "ongoing issue with multiple products."

Bloomberg noted that this outage was especially "notable for its pervasiveness across the Alphabet portfolio," while The New York Times wrote that the incident offered a "stark reminder of how much people and businesses rely on the Silicon Valley giant."