Google Says 'Most' Customers Are Back Online Following Cloud Outage

Key Points:

• Google Cloud experienced a significant outage caused by a power event in its London-based europe-west2-b zone, disrupting various online services, including several UK banking apps such as Halifax, Revolut, and Emma.
• The outage affected users' ability to make card payments, log in, and transfer money, prompting public apologies from affected companies and assurances that customer data and funds remained secure.
• Beyond financial services, the disruption impacted other sectors, including delivery services like DPD, web hosting platforms like SiteGround, and the UK's courts and tribunal service, which faced issues with cloud-based video tools for remote hearings.
• Google reported that the issue was largely resolved by 10 a.m. ET Tuesday, with only a small number of customers still experiencing problems, and engineers from Google and affected companies were collaborating to fully restore services.
• This incident highlights the challenges cloud providers face in maintaining reliability amid growing demand, especially as Google competes with Amazon and Microsoft in the enterprise and government markets during the AI boom.