Google Google over IPv6

Frequently asked questions

  1. Why not just enable IPv6 on Google websites?

    We continuously conduct detailed measurements on the quality of IPv6 connectivity, and our latest results show that making Google services generally available over IPv6 at this time would lead to connection problems and increased latency for a small number of users. User experience is very important to us, and we do not want to impact users on networks that do not yet fully support IPv6. We will continue to re-evaluate the situation as the IPv6 Internet evolves.

  2. What services are available?

    Google services available currently include Google search (including image search, blog search and code search), Alerts, Docs, Finance, Gmail, Health, iGoogle, News, Reader, Picasa, and Maps. We'll be adding new services in the future, though, so check back often.

  3. How do I request Google over IPv6?

    If you're interested in Google over IPv6, please email us at google-ipv6@google.com.

  4. How do I report a problem?

    If you see a problem that only occurs when connecting to Google over IPv6, let us know at google-ipv6@google.com. If you experience problems reaching Google over IPv6, contact our network operations center as you would for any network problem.

  5. My network meets the requirements for Google over IPv6 and has an IPv4 peering with Google. Can I dual-stack my existing peering?

    Yes. Get in touch with your existing peering contacts to enable IPv6 peering.

  6. My network's IPv6 connection is through a tunnel. Can I receive Google over IPv6?

    We prefer to avoid enabling Google over IPv6 for networks behind tunnels at this time, as it can be difficult to guarantee good performance and to debug problems. If you would like to use Google over IPv6 but your upstreams only provide tunneled connections, or don't provide IPv6 connectivity at all, we encourage you to ask them to support native IPv6. If there is sufficient demand, we may consider developing a solution to offer Google over IPv6 for tunneled networks, so please let us know if you're interested.

  7. I am an IPv6 user. Can I enable Google over IPv6 for my network?

    At this time, Google over IPv6 is only available to network operators who manage their own DNS infrastructure and network peering. If you would like to use Google over IPv6, please consider asking your ISP to enable it for their network—and to deploy IPv6 if they have not already!

  8. I am a user of an IPv6 tunnel broker. Can I receive Google over IPv6?

    Some tunnel broker operators allow their users to access Google over IPv6 by providing special DNS resolvers close to their users. Please contact your tunnel broker for more details.

  9. What is IPv6?

    IPv6 is the new version of the Internet Protocol, the language that computers use to communicate with each other on the internet. The addresses used by the current version of the Internet Protocol, IPv4, are approaching exhaustion. While technologies such as Network Address Translation (NAT) can offer temporary respite, they complicate the internet's architecture, pose barriers to the development of new applications and are contrary to network-openness principles.

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