Skip to main content

Cloud down! GChat and Google Drive experience service issues

google account phishing scam hooks users fake drive login
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Update 3/17/14 4:19 p.m. ET: Google’s app status dashboard indicates that all of their services are currently online and are experiencing “No issues,” according to the legend on the page.

Gchat is experiencing some technical issues today, with many users of the popular IM chat service reporting that they’re unable to send and receive messages. We initially suspected that there was an issue once multiple people here in the Digital Trends’ New York offices received “did not receive your chat” notifications after attempting to send IMs to one another. However, a quick look at Google’s official status page for Google Talk indicates that there is indeed a service problem.

Google posted a Google Talk dashboard update at 12:22 pm, which currently reads:

“We’re investigating reports of an issue with Google Talk. We will provide more information shortly.”

A few quick glances around the Internet confirmed that this was indeed at least a somewhat widespread issue for Google’s messaging service.

Screen Shot 2014-03-17 at 12.13.18 PM
Gchat users fled to Twitter to complain about how they can’t chat. Image used with permission by copyright holder

Though there are also reports indicating that there have been issues with Google Drive, the tech firm’s cloud service, we took a look at our own accounts, and for the most part, we had no issues. However, Google’s app dashboard also indicates that Google Sheets, Drive’s spreadsheet service, has experienced a “Service disruption” as of 12:47 p.m. today. Google is currently investigating that matter as well. The dashboard also indicates a Google+ Hangouts disruption as of 12:22 p.m.

Google’s cloud and chat services are generally reliable, which is part of the reason why they’re so widely used. However, the downside to that is when those services do encounter issues, it impacts a significant amount of people across multiple backgrounds: students, professionals and other as well.  This is actually not the first Google service outage of the year: a hiccup occurred in late January and left users without Gmail and Google Talk access for 15 minutes. Prior to that, Google Talk also went down a few hours in July of 2012.

Image Credit: Wallnen.com

Editors' Recommendations

Mike Epstein
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Michael is a New York-based tech and culture reporter, and a graduate of Northwestwern University’s Medill School of…
The difference between Google One and Google Drive
Google One home page in Safari on a MacBook.

As a Google Drive user, you may have heard or read about Google One. What was once simply paid additional storage for Google Drive is now known as Google One. Since 2018, Google Drive users have had the option to subscribe to the service for the added storage along with extra benefits.

You may be wondering if you need Google One, what the benefits of the service include, and how much it costs. We’re here to give you answers.
Google One versus Google Drive

Read more
Google is officially killing yet another chat app
A woman using a laptop with the Google Hangouts and Google Chat icons.

Google Hangouts is finally, really going away for everyone in November of 2022, and Google Chat is ready to step in as a full-featured replacement. Once reserved for Google Workspace subscribers, Chat generally offers more capabilities, so it's a good trade.

Every change involves learning how the new system works, and the fine details can sometimes be frustrating. Getting an early start is the best way to take control of the situation and manage the transition on your own schedule.

Read more
3 things you didn’t know you could do with Google Drive
Google Drive in Chrome on a MacBook.

When it comes to Google apps, most people look for hidden features in Docs, new features in Sheets, or interesting features in Slides. But Google Drive, the central hub for the documents from all those apps, has its own set of features.

Here are a few features of Google Drive that you may not know exist because they’ve popped up over time and under the radar.
See file locations
Just like on Windows and Mac, you may want to see the spot where a file resides by viewing the file path. In Google Drive, you can see the exact location of a file. This is helpful for opening the correct file when multiple files have similar names, as well as for jumping directly to a folder that holds a file.

Read more