Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s chat service seems to be experiencing some major issues today, according to the complaints posted by users on Twitter and Google’s product forums. Some messages are getting delivered to the wrong recipients on Google Talk. The issue appears to have started earlier today with some Google Talk users even claiming that users not added in their contact list are receiving the messages.
There are still no official words on the cause of the issue; however, Google’s status message says that the company is “investigating reports of an issue with Google Talk. We’re sorry for the inconvenience. For further updates please refer to the Apps Status Dashboard.”
Probable reasons for the issue
On the face, it looks like the glitch mainly occurs for Google Talk users who still haven’t upgraded to Google’s new Hangouts service, according to TheVerge. The problems affect the privacy of the users and the same has been indicated in complaints reported.
The issue is majorly faced by those Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Talk users who are trying to chat with users that have already upgraded to Google’s newer instant messaging platform, Google Hangouts. The new messaging platform includes updates for text-based communication along with video chatting, and was released by the company at Google’s annual I/O developer conference in May. So, by this logic, the issue is primarily related to the technical transition from one service to the other, says TechCrunch.
Complaints tweeted by Google chat service users
Philip Loh @winglessangel31 said: “GTalk msgs are going to multiple people. I chat with A and B gets my msgs. I try to explain to B and C gets the msgs..”
Carmine Cristallo @ccristal complained: “Massive privacy issue with #googletalk. Just received messages that someone in my contact list sent to someone else.”
laura royden @roydraging tweeted: “my gchats are going to multiple people when i try to gchat one person. THIS IS A TERRIFYING SITUATION.”
Some users are even complaining that chats are not only going to unintended recipients via Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Talk, but also via email.
So, until the service is officially resolved, the best advice for users will be to limit their chats as the issue is surely capable of creating some awkward moments.
