YouTube Outage... Occurs in US, UK, Japan, and Netherlands

Error Reported Simultaneously Worldwide
Google-Linked Home IoT Devices Also Affected
#YouTubeDOWN Hashtag Surges

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Google, the world's largest search engine behind services like YouTube and Gmail, experienced widespread service outages in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Japan.

In particular, smart home devices linked with Google reportedly malfunctioned, causing the entire service to go down.

According to IT media such as The Verge on the 15th, reports of YouTube errors that began around 8:30 PM the previous day were identified as access issues with Google, Gmail, and Google Drive, which were resolved around 10 PM, an hour and a half later.

Service disruptions occurred not only in South Korea but also in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Japan, leading to a surge in the #YouTubeDOWN hashtag on Twitter.

Google document apps like Docs and Meet also went down, and problems were reported with smart home gadgets integrated with Google Assistant.

Notably, some users reported errors with smart devices, such as Google’s smart speaker Nest Hub failing to control connected heaters.

Meanwhile, YouTube acknowledged on its Twitter account around 9 AM Korean time the previous day, stating, “We are aware that many users are experiencing access issues and are looking into it.”

In a tweet posted around 10:20 AM, they explained, “Backup has been completed and it is working. You should now be able to access and enjoy videos as usual.”

Previously, YouTube experienced a global outage lasting about two hours on November 12. At that time, Google apologized on its Twitter account, saying, “We apologize for the inconvenience.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.