Every organization – even behemoths like Google – suffer from outages from time to time.
The Google Outage Map is a tool that lets users see where others are reporting issues with the renowned search engine platform. The map is divided into provinces and cities, making it easy to see which areas are affected. The map is updated in real-time, thus ensuring that it is always up-to-date.
The Outage Map is color-coded, allowing users to identify the regions where Google is experiencing problems easily. It can be used to troubleshoot issues or to see if there are widespread outages in a particular area. The Outage Map is an essential resource for the large majority of people who use Google in Canada.
The second chart compares the number of reports received today with the number of outage reports received on the same day last week. The blue line represents the number of outage reports received today, while the gray line denotes the number of messages received last week.
The fact that the chart shows the precise hour helps users pinpoint when the problem started.
The third chart shows the number of reports received each day since the start of the current calendar year. This lets users understand how often Google has had issues this year. The data for this chart is collected from public sources and, therefore, may not be 100% accurate. However, it gives a general idea of how often the search engine has been down during the year.
Most common problems reported in the last 48 hours
The table below shows Google users’ most frequent problems reported in the last 48 hours.
Are you currently experiencing problems with Google services? Share your thoughts, tips, and frustrations with others using the form below.
About Google
Google has become synonymous with search engines around the world – unsurprisingly since Google is responsible for over 70 percent of global online search requests.
An American tech company, Google was launched in 1998 by Stanford students Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Two years prior, Brin and Page had created a search engine algorithm called ‘BackRub’. The algorithm was so-named because it conducted back-link analysis to determine the importance of a website. The algorithm turned out to be successful, and the expanding company had to move multiple times before finally establishing a headquarters in Mountain View, California, in 2003.
A year later, the company launched its IPO (Initial Public Offering), managed to raise $1.66 billion, and quickly became one of the largest media companies in the world. Google then went on to launch Google News (2002), Gmail (2004), Google Maps (2005), Google Chrome (2008), and the social network called Google+ (2011), alongside a number of other products and services.
In 2015, Google became the primary subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. The internet search, apps, maps, the video-sharing site YouTube, and the operating system Android remained under Google. However, separate Google ventures – such as Calico (a longevity research company), Google-X (a research lab), and Nest (home products company), became separate companies under Alphabet Inc.
The search engine underwent numerous updates to be able to provide dynamic result updating, prevent SEO (Search Engine Optimization) abuse, and make the indexing system flexible and swift. The personalization of Google search results started in 2005 and Google auto-complete was introduced shortly after.
Google started off as an online search company, but today, it offers over 50 internet products and services, ranging from email and mobile phone software, to online document creation tools. Google’s large size and product portfolio makes it one of the four most influential organizations in the high-tech space alongside Apple, Microsoft, and IBM. Despite the myriad of products, Google’s search engine still remains the key reason for its success.
Products and Services Offered by Google
As discussed, Google brags a massive portfolio of diverse products and services, with the most popular being:
- Google Search Engine (the most widely-used search engine in the world)
- Google Chrome (the fastest web browser on the market)
- Gmail (one of the most popular email services)
- Android (most of today’s smartphones have an Android operating system)
- YouTube (the first online video service and second most-widely used search engine in the world)
- Google AdSense (A program that shows ads based on text, images, and videos on different internet sites)
- Google Drive (a cloud-operated storage service that offers 15 GB of free storage; certain groups can even acquire additional free space of 5 TB, 1TB, or 100 GB)
- Google Ads (an online advertising service used by advertisers wanting to strengthen their online presence)
- Google Maps (yet another highly popular Google product, Google Maps allows users to view any part of the world)
- Google Docs (Firmly integrated with Google Drive, Google Docs allows users to create, edit, store, and share documents, presentations, and spreadsheets)
Google Presence in Canada
The most popular search engine in the world, Google operates in 219 countries and has over 1 billion people using its products and services. With approximately 250 million users, Google Sites brags the largest proportion of this customer base.
According to a Forum Research Inc. survey, more than 90% Canadians use Google, out of which 73% are extremely satisfied with the search engine.
Service Reliability Offered by Google
Nowadays, it is hard for people to imagine an internet life without Google. As such, service reliability is fundamental for the company. Google strives for a seamless user experience, committing to attaining an uptime of at least 99.99%. That is a bold commitment, and there are several steps that the company takes to ensure that its operations meet these targets:
- Robust security (Google’s end-to-end security feature is integrated into all its offerings, ensuring that the network remains encrypted and secure).
- Automation to prevent user error (Google Cloud delivers plenty of room for automation and machine-learning capabilities, thus saving you time and – more importantly – minimizing the need for human input and, by extension, the chances of human error)
- Embracing multi-cloud and hybrid setups (which allows users to access data and run apps across all cloud environments)
- Faster Cable system (this system is set up under the Pacific Ocean and allows Google to deliver its cloud services at high speeds)
