The internet might feel like an unstoppable force, but even the biggest, most powerful websites aren’t immune to failure. Over the years, some of the world’s most visited sites have gone offline — sometimes for minutes, sometimes for hours — causing everything from mild inconvenience to full-blown chaos.
Website crashes can happen for many reasons: sudden traffic spikes, server failures, software bugs, or even cyberattacks. But each major outage tells a story, and each one has taught us valuable lessons about the digital systems we rely on every day.
Here’s a look back at some of the biggest website crashes in history — and what we can learn from them.
1. Amazon Prime Day 2018 — When a Sale Crashed the Store
Date: July 16, 2018
Duration: Several hours
Cause: Overwhelming traffic during Prime Day sales
Amazon’s annual Prime Day is one of the biggest shopping events in the world — but in 2018, the sale was so popular it took down parts of Amazon’s own website. Shoppers were greeted with error pages (featuring cute but frustrated dogs) instead of discounts, especially during the first hours of the sale.
Lesson Learned: Even tech giants can underestimate demand. Scalability is key, and companies must stress-test their systems for peak loads — especially when events are heavily promoted worldwide.
2. Google Outage 2020 — When the Internet’s Brain Went Offline
Date: December 14, 2020
Duration: Around 45 minutes
Cause: Internal storage quota issue
For less than an hour, much of Google’s empire — including Gmail, YouTube, Google Drive, and Google Docs — went completely offline for users worldwide. For millions of people working or studying from home during the pandemic, it was like the internet had temporarily lost its brain.
Lesson Learned: Centralization creates vulnerability. When a single provider powers so many essential services, an internal glitch can have massive, wide-reaching effects.
3. Facebook Outage 2021 — Six Hours Without the Social Media Giant
Date: October 4, 2021
Duration: 6+ hours
Cause: Configuration change in backbone routers
In one of the largest social media outages ever, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger all went down globally. With billions of users locked out, the outage disrupted businesses, personal communications, and social lives.
Lesson Learned: A single configuration error can snowball into a full-blown outage. Redundancy and rapid rollback plans are essential to minimize downtime.
4. Dyn DDoS Attack 2016 — When Hackers Took Down the Web
Date: October 21, 2016
Duration: Hours
Cause: Massive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack
A coordinated cyberattack targeted Dyn, a major DNS provider, using a botnet of infected IoT devices. The result? Websites like Netflix, Twitter, Reddit, and Spotify became inaccessible to huge parts of the U.S. and Europe.
Lesson Learned: Internet infrastructure is only as strong as its weakest link. Providers must prepare for large-scale, sophisticated attacks — and IoT security matters more than ever.
5. Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift Eras Tour Meltdown 2022
Date: November 15, 2022
Duration: Hours of disruptions and slowdowns
Cause: Record-breaking ticket demand + system overload
When tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour went on sale, the rush of fans was so intense that Ticketmaster’s site crashed repeatedly. Pages froze, queues stalled, and many fans left empty-handed — sparking widespread outrage and even congressional hearings.
Lesson Learned: Virtual queues need as much planning as physical ones. Demand forecasting, server scaling, and transparent communication are crucial during high-profile events.
6. Black Friday Walmart Crash 2015
Date: November 27, 2015
Duration: Several hours
Cause: Overwhelming holiday shopping traffic
On one of the busiest retail days of the year, Walmart’s website buckled under traffic, leaving shoppers unable to complete purchases. While in-store chaos is expected on Black Friday, the digital stampede was a reminder that online stores need just as much preparation.
Lesson Learned: High-traffic sales events should be treated like major live broadcasts — tested, monitored, and supported with extra infrastructure.
7. Zoom Outage 2020 — The Remote Work Nightmare
Date: August 24, 2020
Duration: About 4 hours
Cause: Server capacity issue
At the height of remote work and online schooling, Zoom experienced a widespread outage that left millions unable to join meetings. For many, it was the equivalent of an entire office building being locked for half the day.
Lesson Learned: When your platform becomes mission-critical, downtime hits harder. Proactive scaling and redundancy are essential when user growth explodes.
What These Crashes Teach Us About the Internet
From retail giants to social media titans, no site is completely immune to failure. But looking at these outages side-by-side, some clear takeaways emerge:
Scalability Is Non-Negotiable — Whether it’s Prime Day or a major concert ticket sale, systems must be ready for traffic surges. Redundancy Saves the Day — Backup systems, mirrored databases, and fallback servers can drastically reduce downtime. Communication Matters — When outages happen, clear and frequent updates keep user frustration in check. Cybersecurity Can’t Be Ignored — DDoS attacks and other malicious tactics are only getting more sophisticated. Testing Prevents Surprises — Stress-testing infrastructure before big events can reveal weak points before users do.
The Bottom Line
Website crashes are inevitable — but they don’t have to be catastrophic. Every major outage leaves a trail of lessons that businesses, developers, and even everyday users can learn from.
The next time a big website goes dark, remember: somewhere, a team of engineers is frantically working to bring it back, and somewhere else, another team is making sure it never happens again.