Gmail is down, Twitter sizzling with the news

Google's e-mail service Gmail is offline for many users right now. Those wondering if they are alone in experiencing the outage can find comfort on Twitter, which is up and sizzling with Gmail down alerts. To track the spread of the outage (and to find out when it is corrected), take a look Twitter Search, which is posting dozens of items a second about the outage.

Not what you expect from Google.

Some Webware readers are reporting that Gmail's business e-mail service is also down.

Users already logged into Gmail when the outage started may be able to read messages in their in-box, although sending messages generates an error.

Update: Many users are reporting that the straight HTML version of Gmail is still working (some say it does not). Likewise, access via IMAP is still functioning for some users.

More updates: Google's blogs are strangely silent on the topic, but the Gmail Help Discussion in Google Groups has the official updates about the outage. Also, some users are reporting that Gmail is working for them again.

Update, 3:40 P.M. Pacific Time: Gmail is recovering, according to Google and reports from users. The Gmail Help Discussion saw this post added at 3:30 P.M.: "Engineers have pinpointed the issue causing the 502 errors and it looks as if users should start to regain normal functioning of their account. Thanks for being patient while we worked to sort out this problem."

The first official notice of the outage was at 2:31 P.M.

Update, 5:30 P.M.: According to a Google spokesperson, "The issue was caused by a temporary outage in the contacts system used by Gmail which prevented Gmail from loading properly."

Update, 9:40 P.M.: Google is sorry.

[n3td3v]

Temporary Error (502)

We?re sorry, but your Google Mail account is currently experiencing errors. You won?t be able to use your account while these errors last, but don?t worry, your account data and messages are safe. Our engineers are working to resolve this issue.

Please try accessing your account again in a few minutes.

[E B]

I can see messages from the gadget on iGoogle that looks at my inbox and shows the first few subject lines, but I can't actually open my inbox. Annoying. I hope they fix it quickly.

[EmilySwanson]

Ack! It's been down for me for several hours and it is NOT good timing. I went to Twitter to make sure I wasn't crazy, some small comfort in knowing others are out in the cold as well. I hope they get it back up shortly.

[Michichael]

Wow. Ouch, hope it's up soon!

[n3td3v]

Its working again, panic over, get back to work everybody! Gmail is up again.

[mzetlin]

Still down for me, though others seem to be back up.

[sanenazok]

What do you expect it's still BETA. Just kidding, but apparently Google wasn't!

[Stkxppro]

BREAKING NEWS::: THE GOOGLE BASIC VIEW WORKS!!!! LINK TO GMAIL BASIC VIEW: http://bit.ly/ykHTI

[Stkxppro]

GMAIL IS BACK IN THE UNITED KINGDOM!

[cesarcortes]

I believe Google/Gmail has some serious problems with their infrastructure. This problem (the 502 "Temporary Error") has plagued the service for the past few weeks. There has been several outages, affecting subsets of users. I was affected during a 15 hour outage on August 7, and today...here we go again! I can't access my email. I'm considering switching somewhere else.

[cesarcortes]

I believe Google/Gmail has some serious problems with their infrastructure. This problem (the 502 "Temporary Error") has plagued the service for the past few weeks. There has been several outages, affecting subsets of users. I was affected during a 15 hour outage on August 7, and today...here we go again! I can't access my email. I'm considering switching somewhere else.

[Mr. Dee]

Is that the sound of the Windows Live Team laughing in the background?

[discern]

OMG! OMG! OMG! THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END! I CAN'T READ MY EMAIL. WAAAAAAH.

People, please. This may be the best thing that has happened to you in a long time. Step away from the computer and get some fresh air.

[GlennAllen]

That's funny: Twitterers tweeting about Gmail being down (during one of those "Twitter is currently up" periods--something which is less frequent than with Gmail). Gmail: I use it when it's up, and I don't use it when it isn't. So far, I haven't had a problem with access: good on me!

[timfreeman84]

I had some different errors then the picture posted above.