Did I break the internet when I googled "Google?"
November 27, 2012 1:05 AM Subscribe
Why can I access the rest of the internet but not any Google sites? How can I fix this?
(I've already tried "downforeveryoneorjustforme.com" but that's not working either)
Since I've woken up today (last few hours) I've been able to access other internet sites (fbook, askmeta, etc) but not any Google ones (blogger, gmail, google.com, etc)
I can't access it from my iPod and my roommates haven't been able to get it to work either. What's going on here?
Relevant info: I use a VPN sometimes, mostly to access American sites like Hulu as I currently live in France. A few days ago, google.com wasn't working for me and I got a message that basically said I was a spammer because too many IP addresses were coming up for me. I ignored the message (that would show up after trying to Google something) and started using bing instead. I was still able to access blogger and my gmail during this time though.
(I've already tried "downforeveryoneorjustforme.com" but that's not working either)
Since I've woken up today (last few hours) I've been able to access other internet sites (fbook, askmeta, etc) but not any Google ones (blogger, gmail, google.com, etc)
I can't access it from my iPod and my roommates haven't been able to get it to work either. What's going on here?
Relevant info: I use a VPN sometimes, mostly to access American sites like Hulu as I currently live in France. A few days ago, google.com wasn't working for me and I got a message that basically said I was a spammer because too many IP addresses were coming up for me. I ignored the message (that would show up after trying to Google something) and started using bing instead. I was still able to access blogger and my gmail during this time though.
Looks like Google does block IPs. There's a good chance someone on your internet connection has a virus that's spamming Google with tons of illegitimate searches. Maybe time to try ClamAV or another free product.
If it is an IP block then restarting your cable/DSL/fiber modem might get you a new one. Or it might not depending on how your ISP allocates addresses. But the problem will likely reoccur.
And in the future, if Google throws up an error message you would be wise to not ignore it. Read it. Post an AskMe with the exact wording. Search it. Google usually is very good about doing these types of things for a valid reason.
posted by sbutler at 1:40 AM on November 27, 2012
If it is an IP block then restarting your cable/DSL/fiber modem might get you a new one. Or it might not depending on how your ISP allocates addresses. But the problem will likely reoccur.
And in the future, if Google throws up an error message you would be wise to not ignore it. Read it. Post an AskMe with the exact wording. Search it. Google usually is very good about doing these types of things for a valid reason.
posted by sbutler at 1:40 AM on November 27, 2012
Response by poster: I should have included this info as well.
The VPN I used is "Hide My Ass" which gives me a new random IP each time. Currently when I try to access a Google site I no longer even receive a captcha to fill out (though even when I had those for google.com, it didn't have any problems with my accessing my gmail). Rather now I just get a time out error that google is taking to long to respond.
I just cleared the DNS cache and it didn't do anything.
posted by raccoon409 at 2:26 AM on November 27, 2012
The VPN I used is "Hide My Ass" which gives me a new random IP each time. Currently when I try to access a Google site I no longer even receive a captcha to fill out (though even when I had those for google.com, it didn't have any problems with my accessing my gmail). Rather now I just get a time out error that google is taking to long to respond.
I just cleared the DNS cache and it didn't do anything.
posted by raccoon409 at 2:26 AM on November 27, 2012
I got a message that basically said I was a spammer because too many IP addresses were coming up for me
...
The VPN I used is "Hide My Ass" which gives me a new random IP each time
I suspect that these two facts are connected.
posted by emilyw at 2:28 AM on November 27, 2012
...
The VPN I used is "Hide My Ass" which gives me a new random IP each time
I suspect that these two facts are connected.
posted by emilyw at 2:28 AM on November 27, 2012
Response by poster: I believe they are connected as well emilyw, but I don't know how to move forward from where I am now.
Funny enough, I had the VPN off, just turned it on and now I'm able to access Gmail again.
If anyone has advice as to how to avoid this again I'd appreciate it. (Contact google a certain way, etc)
posted by raccoon409 at 2:37 AM on November 27, 2012
Funny enough, I had the VPN off, just turned it on and now I'm able to access Gmail again.
If anyone has advice as to how to avoid this again I'd appreciate it. (Contact google a certain way, etc)
posted by raccoon409 at 2:37 AM on November 27, 2012
I can't imagine Google happily allowing you to do this. I guess they are saving a cookie in your browser, so they still knows it's you every time you reconnect from a different IP address.
Maybe you could try opening a new "private browsing" or "incognito" window every time you want to use Google?
posted by Diag at 3:33 AM on November 27, 2012
Maybe you could try opening a new "private browsing" or "incognito" window every time you want to use Google?
posted by Diag at 3:33 AM on November 27, 2012
Try using a different browser for your VPN needs.
posted by mannequito at 3:49 AM on November 27, 2012
posted by mannequito at 3:49 AM on November 27, 2012
I've been getting this, too --- but on my phone, on which I have Safari permanently set to private browsing. No VPN in my case, and I'm getting it while on 4g, not wifi.
I don't know if that's at all helpful, but I've been thinking about asking about this myself.
posted by Diablevert at 4:25 AM on November 27, 2012
I don't know if that's at all helpful, but I've been thinking about asking about this myself.
posted by Diablevert at 4:25 AM on November 27, 2012
I had this happen without a VPN and it was fixed for a few hours when I power cycled my computer. For some reason just clearing DNS cache didn't work. The problem came back and I switched my DNS provider to Google (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) and it hasn't returned since.
posted by JuliaKM at 6:29 AM on November 27, 2012
posted by JuliaKM at 6:29 AM on November 27, 2012
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posted by dhartung at 1:27 AM on November 27, 2012