Google is DOWN: Search engine, YouTube and other services hit with worldwide outage

Google is experiencing a worldwide outage that has taken out its search engine, YouTube and other services.

Issues began around 9am ET and are plaguing users in the US, the UK and parts of Europe, Asia and South America.

DownDetector, a site that monitors online outages, shows disruptions with the website, search and Google Drive.

The issues hit as many Americans are starting their workday, leaving them unable to send emails, search for content or watch videos to pass the time.

DownDetector's issue map shows problems hitting Los Angeles and New York City, along with Boston and Chicago. 

However, users in the UK are experiencing the brunt of the outage with more than 11,000 reports issued to DownDetector. 

In the US, 57 percent of the problem stems from search, 32 percent with the website and 11 percent cited Google Drive.

Users have flocked to X to share their frustrations about Google experiencing problems and to see if others are experiencing the same glitches. 

X user Barry Bureau posted: 'The terrifying thing about Google going down for 20 minutes, is that for those 20 minutes the entirety of humanity had to rely on their own knowledge. It's incredible that we survived.' 

Google Meets is also experiencing issues, showing users a blank screen that reads: 'You are offline. Go back online to use Google Meet.'

Another Google user posted on DownDetector that the Chrome PC app was not working properly.