it appears that your computer or network has been infected.

strange message from google

[ignatz]

We're sorry...

... but we can't process your request right now. A computer virus or spyware application is sending us automated requests, and it appears that your computer or network has been infected.

We'll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your computer is free of viruses and other spurious software.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we'll see you again on Google.

I'm getting this error when trying to access google news. Anyone else? I've checked virus and spyware... maybe its my provider?

[goodroi]

Check with your provider and make sure Google is sending you that message. Sometimes people get hijacked and sent these types of messages. But it's probably an issue for your provider.

[skipfactor]

I got the same message yesterday only on Google News (I was able to still access Gmail & google.com). It went away several hours later after some neglected spyware cleaning on the LAN.

[ignatz]

I had that message for half the day. I think it was either a problem from a computer on my ISP, or Google's error. Later on it disappeared. A search on G for snippets from the error message showed only a handful of results, which is why I thought it might be useful for this forum..

So I posted a message and waited.. and waited.. and waited.. TWENTY FOUR HOURS LATER a moderator seems to have found the time and deemed my message "worthy". By then it was pretty much redundant.

As a consolation prize, if people in the future have this problem perhaps they can get some info from this posting.

[skipfactor]

>> I think it was either a problem from a computer on my ISP, or Google's error

I think it was Google's error or a test of some sort. The neglected 'infected' machine on my LAN just had the usual minor exploits.