« Older Entry

Newer Entry »

Monday, August 11th, 2008 by Andy Beal

Google’s Gmail Crashes; Needs a Fail Whale

If you’re not a Gmail user, you’re probably not aware of this system-wide message:

If Google keeps up with the outages, it will need to come up with its own one of these:

What would be a good “fail whale” alternative for Google?

UPDATE: So, Gmail is back to normal. What happened? Gmail officials explain…

Many of you had trouble accessing Gmail for a couple of hours this afternoon, and we’re really sorry. The issue was caused by a temporary outage in our contacts system that was preventing Gmail from loading properly. Everything should be back to normal by the time you read this.

We heard loud and clear today how much people care about their Gmail accounts. We followed all the emails to our support team and user group, we fielded phone calls from Google Apps customers and friends, and we saw the many Twitter posts. (We also heard from plenty of Googlers, who use Gmail for company email.) We never take for granted the commitment we’ve made to running an email service that you can count on.

We’ve identified the source of this issue and fixed it. In addition, as with all issues that affect Gmail and our other services, we’re conducting a full review of what went wrong and moving quickly to update our internal systems and procedures accordingly. We don’t usually post about problems like this on our blog, but we wanted to make an exception in this case since so many people were impacted. In general, though, if you spot a problem with your Gmail account, please visit the Gmail Help Center and user group, where the Gmail Guides are your fastest source of updates.

Again, we’re sorry.

  • Save & Share
  • del.icio.us:Google's Gmail Crashes; Needs a Fail Whale
  • digg:Google's Gmail Crashes; Needs a Fail Whale
  • reddit:Google's Gmail Crashes; Needs a Fail Whale
  • stumbleupon:Google's Gmail Crashes; Needs a Fail Whale

Similar Stories in: Search | Forward: Email This Post

Similar posts you may like...

20 comments on “Google’s Gmail Crashes; Needs a Fail Whale”

  1. Nick Stamoulis Says:

    August 11th, 2008 at 6:28 pm

    Ah, so we’re NOT the only ones! Yes, they need to come up with a version of the fail whale…. this is ridiculous!

    Nick Stamoulis’s last blog post..Do You Correct Mistakes In Your Writing?

  2. GFail « KateDickman.com Says:

    August 11th, 2008 at 6:44 pm

    [...] Andy Beal has stated…we officially now need an image that is Gmail’s equivalence to the Fail [...]

  3. Utah SEO Pro Says:

    August 11th, 2008 at 6:47 pm

    Definitely an inconvenience for me today.

    Utah SEO Pro’s last blog post..Mobile SEO - SMX Local Mobile 2008 Presentation

  4. AV Flox Says:

    August 11th, 2008 at 8:31 pm

    It’s driving me UP THE WALL! Major fail whale for sure.

    AV Flox’s last blog post..!

  5. Tiffany Says:

    August 11th, 2008 at 10:31 pm

    I just checked. It’s already available.

  6. AV Flox Says:

    August 11th, 2008 at 10:43 pm

    We should make one anyway so we’re prepared next time.

    AV Flox’s last blog post..In Case You Missed It The First 342,184 Times: SEX SELLS

  7. Joe Hall Says:

    August 11th, 2008 at 11:02 pm

    I check my gmail through outlook using the POP3 servers, and I never have had down time, even today. I think its kinda funny that so many use the web interface. I like using a local mail client because it allows me to back everything up and work while away from a WiFi signal.

    Joe Hall’s last blog post..Hitwise data misses the mark when it comes to Real Estate.

  8. Symbian Says:

    August 12th, 2008 at 6:34 am

    I haven’t noticed this outage.

    Symbian’s last blog post..Nokia Chat - new location based messenger

  9. Where are you left if the Cloud goes down? | Ugh!!'s Greymatter Honeypot Says:

    August 12th, 2008 at 9:11 am

    [...] a few people were posting Tweets to the same effect. Turns out Gmail had a real outage (they needed their own fail whale) and millions of people (up to 20 million) were affected and left in the dark. Later on Google [...]

  10. Dr Marketing Says:

    August 12th, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    I thought it was just me having this problem but it was fixed within 20 or so minutes in my case.

    Dr Marketing’s last blog post..The truth about Nigerian spam emails

  11. Fifty Studio Says:

    August 12th, 2008 at 1:28 pm

    should we believe the explanation?

    Fifty Studio’s last blog post..Win Batman Dark Knight tickets

  12. Millionaire Says:

    August 12th, 2008 at 1:28 pm

    with any email/hosting service there is always a tiny fraction of a chance that it goes down… thats why this is life.. and not just a perfect story… ;)
    Millionaire’s last blog post..Richkiss.com (Meet Rich People Online)

  13. San Nayak Says:

    August 12th, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    It was definitely a pain for me but better than few other mail servers where i don’t receive emails for 4 hours or more, which also a partner of company like HOSTWAY.

    San Nayak’s last blog post..Visiting San Francisco, California

  14. Nicole Price Says:

    August 13th, 2008 at 2:32 am

    Wow! Quite a nice response from Google. All the more pleasing for being so unexpected and out of character!

    Nicole Price’s last blog post..How To Save Effectively

  15. Ashley Says:

    August 13th, 2008 at 3:41 am

    I am a lucky, I don’t use this mail server

  16. jeflin Says:

    August 13th, 2008 at 4:47 am

    Yikes, if they behave like twitter, they will lose their dominant position in no time at all.

    I can accept such downtime but if it becomes a habit, then I am prepared to discard gmail.

    jeflin’s last blog post..Overhead Supply Can Trap Your Money

  17. Otilia Otlacan Says:

    August 13th, 2008 at 5:39 am

    Seems like the outage was restricted to US only (?), cause over here (IE) nothing was down…

    Otilia Otlacan’s last blog post..comScore Enhances Reporting of Ad Networks’ Audiences - YuMe Concerns Addressed

  18. PS3 Says:

    August 13th, 2008 at 7:53 am

    This was driving me up the wall on Monday, very glad it was sorted.

  19. Webmaster's Forum Says:

    August 18th, 2008 at 9:07 am

    I guess this will become more common in future….

  20. Games Says:

    August 30th, 2008 at 12:32 pm

    I hope it won’t be that common in future. I do not want to be out of my gmail when I need it the most.

Leave a comment?

Want to see your own avatar next to your comment? You'll need a Gravatar.

Please read our comment policy.