Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This session provides a look at the recent changes to Google's peering policies and the evolving philosophy behind them. We'll explore how traffic shifts — driven by Cloud, YouTube, and other services — are impacting interconnection across IXes, PNIs, and metro regions. We’ll discuss new challenges Google and our cloud customers are seeing at IXes, recent updates to our route server and IX peering policies, and how these changes are intended to improve stability and performance. We'll also cover updates to PNI engagement criteria, upcoming infrastructure expansions, and why we created the Verified Peering Provider (VPP) program. Finally, we’ll share lessons learned from VPP’s first year, outline future plans, and emphasize our commitment to collaborating with operators and IXPs to strengthen the broader internet ecosystem.
Dave Schwartz: Dave Schwartz is a Product Manager at Google, focused on Peering and Internet Edge strategy. He most recently led the development and launch of the Verified Peering Provider (VPP) program, an initiative to enhance cloud customer connectivity and strengthen ISP partnerships. Since joining Google, Dave has held leadership roles across peering infrastructure and cloud customer engineering. Prior to Google, he held network engineering positions at Microsoft and Boeing, where he supported global infrastructure deployments and modernization efforts. Dave holds degrees in Engineering Management and Industrial & Systems Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology and is based in Los Angeles.
Speaker Dave Schwartz - Google
This session provides a look at the recent changes to Google's peering policies and the evolving philosophy behind them. We'll explore how traffic shifts — driven by Cloud, YouTube, and other services — are impacting interconnection across IXes, PNIs, and metro regions. We’ll discuss new challenges Google and our cloud customers are seeing at IXes, recent updates to our route server and IX peering policies, and how these changes are intended to improve stability and performance. We'll also cover updates to PNI engagement criteria, upcoming infrastructure expansions, and why we created the Verified Peering Provider (VPP) program. Finally, we’ll share lessons learned from VPP’s first year, outline future plans, and emphasize our commitment to collaborating with operators and IXPs to strengthen the broader internet ecosystem.
Dave Schwartz: Dave Schwartz is a Product Manager at Google, focused on Peering and Internet Edge strategy. He most recently led the development and launch of the Verified Peering Provider (VPP) program, an initiative to enhance cloud customer connectivity and strengthen ISP partnerships. Since joining Google, Dave has held leadership roles across peering infrastructure and cloud customer engineering. Prior to Google, he held network engineering positions at Microsoft and Boeing, where he supported global infrastructure deployments and modernization efforts. Dave holds degrees in Engineering Management and Industrial & Systems Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology and is based in Los Angeles.
Speaker Dave Schwartz - Google
