Since early June, Android users and many people relying on Google services like YouTube have noticed slower performance and hiccups. For instance, YouTube comments take longer to load, and images in search results appear incorrectly or not at all.
On the Peekaboo forum, discussions surfaced about Google and YouTube experiencing delays in Russia, with many posts offering fixes. The sentiment reflected widespread frustration as several services appeared unreliable for a large group of users.
One user described seeing issues across Google Maps and Chrome, with occasional failures to detect available networks. The complaint also noted trouble accessing content from a library purchase and suggested that even VPNs offered little relief.
Another user asked whether Google Maps had stopped working in the past five days. A different post questioned Google Assistant’s reliability, mentioning a failed reminder due to a lack of connection. In shared accounts, volunteers noted that certain tasks stayed idle rather than executing as expected.
A reporter confirmed that a broad array of Google services stayed slow or failed to recognize an Internet connection in recent days.
According to a later report, the issue might be linked to changes around Google Global Cache (GGC), which speeds up service loading by serving data from nearby servers. Russia reportedly informed providers about ending contracts for GGC servers that helped accelerate access to Google content.
In comments, some representatives from major operators stated that traffic from Google sources continued to flow normally, with no obvious outages observed. Other sources noted no changes on major networks and suggested the slowdown was not tied to a single service. Analysts offered contrasting views, with some attributing the slowdown to lost local caching and others to broader blocking actions affecting subnets and IPs. The situation remained under discussion as various officials provided statements about ongoing measures and their impact on performance.
Analysts pointed out that even if GGC is no longer fully in use, it may not completely explain the slowdown. Some suggested that restrictions targeting certain infrastructure components could influence multiple online services, not just Google. Others noted that the overall user experience could be affected by broader network policy actions and partial blocking in certain regions.
Officials were careful to state that measures aimed at enforcing local laws should not be seen as directly harming the overall availability of Internet resources, though users experienced slower performance as services adjusted. Independent experts weighed in, proposing that a change in local routing or blocked addresses could disrupt content delivery and require reconfiguration across platforms.
As the situation evolved, researchers stressed that it is difficult to attribute the slowdown to a single cause. Some suggested that blocks affecting core Google infrastructure and related services could create cascading effects, while others argued that the core issue might lie in broader regional controls and network routing policies.
To keep users informed, authorities and industry observers monitored the situation, acknowledging that measures intended to meet legal requirements could interact with technology in unpredictable ways. The importance of robust, redundant delivery paths and localized caching remains a common theme in discussions about maintaining service quality under tightening controls.
What can users do?
Users on forums and social posts share practical tips for improving service reliability. A common suggestion is to disable the QUIC protocol in the browser to restore stability for some web pages. This workaround is often described as helping web versions of Google services load more quickly in Chromium-based browsers such as Chrome and Yandex Browser, though results vary by device and network.
To try this, open a browser on a computer or smartphone and enter chrome://flags in the address bar. In the search field, type QUIC and set the Experimental QUIC protocol to Disabled, then restart the browser. Some users report smoother performance after this change, though it does not guarantee full functionality for all services on all networks.
Even when the browser speeds up, some services may still run slowly on mobile devices. The Play store, YouTube, and other apps could experience reduced speed or outages regardless of connection type. When image searches fail in Google Lens or Google Assistant, users may see errors suggesting network checks. In some situations, connecting through a VPN appears to be the only way to restore full access for certain apps and features.