We’re in the midst of the Cricket World Cup and our country has jumped onto the bandwagon with much fervour.
While India prepares for its first match, Google Duo was making international booboos sending Virat Kohli’s message to confused users worldwide.
Anyone else get this random #duo message from @imVkohli? 🤷♀️#googleduo #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/3COS3VxaeK
— Laura Eileen (@Rawr_b4_coffee) May 30, 2019
Skipper Kohli & Duo had apparently intended to send Indian cricket fans a personalised message prepping them for the upcoming ICC madness. The message, however, reached hundreds of users around the globe who were left clueless about why some guy named Virat Kohli was sending them “thank you” messages.
@hagavaf I received the Virat Kohli notification on Duo in NYC @ 9:20 PM EST yesterday. [Google Pixel 3XL]
— lisa (@lisasaidit) May 30, 2019
I was slightly scared to open it – thought it was a random person sending who knows what. App deleted.
What’s up with this random @Google Duo message from @imVkohli? #GoogleDuo pic.twitter.com/P1btBhy8P8
— ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@The_Izzo) May 30, 2019
I know, he pops on my screen all of a sudden, it’s sometimes scary, it’s as if he’s really watching us, like FaceTime.
— Chris Beder (@BederChris) May 31, 2019
Hey @Google why did I get a random missed Duo call from someone and get this message?
— jtdougl (@jtdougl) May 31, 2019
I had literally never set up a Duo or ever used it before pic.twitter.com/TOeYuRbBcj
The discussion soon started to spill over into Reddit as well.
And Indian users even chimed in wondering why it wasn’t sent to them.
and in india we didn’t get any single msg abt this
— i_ravi (@iravi16) June 1, 2019
Fortunately, before things went out of hand, Google jumped in to douse the fire with their timely response.
We’re sorry for this glitch and the confusion it created – we recognize this seemed like spam, and are taking steps so it doesn’t happen again.
— Justin Uberti (@juberti) May 30, 2019
Apparently, the message that was supposed to target its Indian users reached a worldwide audience due to a glitch. The message went as far as Canada, US, Mexico, New Zealand, Japan, and more.
