Widespread Zoom Outage Disrupts Service for Tens of Thousands of Users Across the U.S.

Zoom, the widely used video communications service, experienced a significant outage on Wednesday, affecting tens of thousands of users, as reported by Downdetector.

At approximately 3:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, around 68,000 users reported difficulties accessing the videoconferencing tool. The majority of complaints centered on issues with the web application, while many users also encountered problems with the mobile app, according to Downdetector. The outage appeared to be widespread across the United States, as indicated by user reports.

The impact of Zoom users

This interruption in Zoom's services followed a tech outage earlier in the day, which affected thousands of Spotify users, who reported difficulties accessing their music streaming accounts. Despite the widespread disruptions, Zoom did not respond immediately to CBS MoneyWatch's request for comment.

User Base and Popularity

Zoom boasts a user base of approximately 300 million participants in meetings daily. The platform gained immense popularity during the pandemic when in-person meetings were curtailed. While this surge in usage contributed to a boost in revenue during the pandemic, the company's growth has since experienced a slowdown.

Related News

Additionally, other news from CBS News includes alerts from FasTrak regarding scam text messages, early returns in a special Oakland mayoral election indicating a lead for Loren Taylor, the reopening of eastbound lanes of the Bay Bridge after a vehicle towing an RV caught fire, and efforts by Oakland mayoral candidates to increase voter turnout for the special election. In a lighter note, an 8-year-old Lego builder from the Bay Area has advanced to an international competition.

Reporter Information

The article was reported by Megan Cerullo, a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch, covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending, and personal finance topics. She frequently appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.