Google fixes Gmail glitch that disrupted service to about 50% of users

A Gmail glitch that affected nearly 50 percent of the webmail service's users for about 10 hours has been fixed, the Mountain View, Calif., company said. The still-unexplained glitch caused email delivery delays and difficulties downloading attachments Google first acknowledged at about 10 a.m. EDT Monday, roughly 10 hours before it was patched, PC World reported Tuesday. The problem affected individuals using the free version of Gmail as well as businesses, schools and government agencies who pay for the webmail service as part of the Google Apps cloud collaboration and email suite. In the United States, the disruption covered most of the workday from coast to coast, PC World said. Google said the severity and length of the impact varied among users. About 29 percent of messages received were delayed by an average of 2.6 seconds, but some mail was "severely delayed," Google said. "We apologize for the duration of today's event; we're aware that prompt email delivery is an important part of the Gmail experience, and today's experience fell far short of our standards," the company posted on the status site.