This is exactly the kind of non-human PR speak that saturates Google's response to customers in all forums. Promises are half-made and always broken. There doesn't seem to be a will or desire to aggregate and manager customers' concerns.
I hope this time is different, and your team really does share more information as it becomes available and relevant. I doubt it, though, and will switch to a mail provider that I pay for and has good customer service (which is my inclination toward all Google services these days).
You do realize he has to run the information he can and cannot give out by his higher-ups and possibly legal before he can reply publicly, right? Google isn't a small operation and is very vulnerable to lawsuits.
Also it's a Sunday.
The fact that he's even publicly responding here personally is already surprising to me.
As mentioned elsewhere in the comments they are still working on actually fixing the issue.
They have already acknowledged it, given some details about what they believe to be the root cause, and implemented a band-aid fix for the time being. I'm sure once they have fully investigated and resolved the issue they will provide more details.
At this point, giving out details based on what they think is the issue now may end up being partially or even fully incorrect and that doesn't do anyone any good.
> Why do people consistently think that an employee gives a shit about whether you continue using a service?
It's not that I think he does (or should) care. It's that his response reflects Google's public-facing attitude about their products, which are used for extremely sensitive personal issues. If that's not how things are internally, then I'm disappointed he isn't telling us (perhaps because he isn't allowed to).
He (and they) have a right not to care. I have a right to take my business elsewhere and let them know I'm doing it. If enough people speak, maybe it'll be a trend instead of an anecdote and Google will change the way they treat users/customers.
I hope this time is different, and your team really does share more information as it becomes available and relevant. I doubt it, though, and will switch to a mail provider that I pay for and has good customer service (which is my inclination toward all Google services these days).