Google later confirmed the root cause was an issue in YouTube’s recommendations system, which blocked videos from appearing on the homepage, app, Music, and Kids surfaces; the homepage was restored first while a full fix continued.

A global outage hit YouTube late Tuesday, with hundreds of thousands of users reporting issues as the platform’s services were disrupted across surfaces for video delivery.

An official statement noted that while the homepage was operational, refinements were still underway to stabilize the recommendations system across all surfaces.

By the time updates progressed, there was uncertainty about how long restoration would take, with ongoing remediation and monitoring as top priorities.

A timeline described the outage as starting in the late afternoon, peaking with widespread impact, and gradually easing through the evening as services recovered.

The incident underscored the platform’s reliance on its recommendation infrastructure for content delivery and highlighted how faults in a key subsystem can rapidly affect users globally.

Observers stressed the importance of fault isolation, transparent user updates, and stronger redundancy to prevent recurrence and protect user trust.

Meanwhile, other platforms experienced separate outages earlier in the week, with cross-service disruption prompting broader discussions about digital resilience.

YouTube provided a help page for users seeking assistance during the outage.

coverage noted some confusion from conflicting signals about when services would be fully restored as the situation evolved.

Multiple outlets and outage trackers documented the global scope, with real-time analysis from sources monitoring the outage and its impact.

By late evening, the outage appeared resolved, with services restored and users able to access content again.