ISLAMABAD: YouTube on Wednesday said it had fixed a technical problem that briefly disrupted access to the video-sharing platform worldwide, after outage-tracking website Downdetector reported widespread complaints.

According to the company, a glitch in its recommendation system prevented videos from appearing across different YouTube services.

“The issue with our recommendations system has been resolved, and all of our platforms — YouTube.com, the YouTube app, YouTube Music, Kids and TV — are back to normal,” YouTube said in a statement.

At the height of the disruption, more than 320,000 users in the United States reported problems, Downdetector data showed. The tracking website noted that its figures are based on user submissions, and the actual number of affected users may differ.

Service interruptions were also reported in several countries, including India, Britain, Australia and Mexico.

YouTube remains one of the world’s largest digital platforms. By early 2025, it had more than 2.5 billion global viewers, while subscribers to its music and premium services reached 100 million, according to data from market research firm Statista.

Google has said users watch over one billion hours of YouTube content daily on television screens alone, while more than 500 hours of video are uploaded to the platform every minute.

Industry analysts often describe Google’s 2006 acquisition of YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock as a landmark deal that merged Google’s search and advertising strength with a rapidly growing video community.

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YouTube restores services after global disruption