Over 5000 users have indicated that they are unable to view video previews.
What you need to know
– Several users have reported on DownDetector that they cannot see video previews.
– Others mention that while everything seems to operate, it is slower than normal.
– The outage began at 1:00 p.m. ET and continues, with over 5,000 users reporting problems with the streaming app.
YouTube’s website appears to be experiencing a broad outage affecting only the site of the streaming app currently. The disruption started around 1 p.m. ET, with users indicating they faced “video streaming” difficulties.
Numerous users reported the outage on DownDetector, asserting that YouTube’s site appears to be down, with no video previews loading. Meanwhile, some say that even though everything on the streaming site is functioning, it is slower than usual (as noted by 9to5Google).
As per DownDetector, there was a surge in outage reports around 2:30 p.m. ET, with roughly 5,000 individuals verifying they encountered issues accessing YouTube and were faced with a blank screen instead of the videos.
To detail the situation, 83% faced challenges with the website, 15% of users experienced video streaming issues, and 3% of users reported being unable to access the YouTube app. The site was experiencing outages in New York City, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Other significant metropolitan centers across Canada and various parts of the globe were facing similar problems.
Neither Google nor YouTube has recognized the outage, while many users have taken to social media to express the issues they are encountering with the streaming platform. 9to5Google mentions that users reported seeing an increase in ad-blocker warnings throughout the website. Some users turned to Reddit to propose a temporary solution for the issue, stating that disabling ad blockers on the site enabled them to regain access to YouTube.
That said, it is critical to recognize that YouTube Ads are one of the primary sources of revenue for Google. CEO Sundar Pichai pointed out that YouTube ads generated $8.93 billion in the first quarter of 2025 alone. When users activate ad blockers, they inhibit these ads from being shown, directly affecting YouTube’s capability to earn revenue from advertisements.
Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that YouTube is gradually returning to normal operations and the volume of outage reports has also markedly declined on DownDetector.
