Usually it’s possible to add a Google account to your Apple Mac OS X Contacts and the system will work properly. This is done through System Preferences > Internet Accounts > press + to add an account. You can setup Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Messages, and Notes. However, some people have experienced problems with Gmail contacts and the Apple Contacts program.
It may be, when you click the checkbox next to Contacts in System Settings > Internet Accounts, you won’t see any names show up in your Apple Contacts program. If this happens, you’ll need to configure your Gmail contacts in the following way (for OS X Mavericks):
- System Preferences > Internet Accounts > press + to add an account.
- Scroll to the bottom of the available account types, and click on Add Other Account.
- Choose Add a CardDAV account.
- Provide your Username (only the part before the @gmail.com) and password. The server address should be http://www.google.com. If you enter Google.com for the server (as instructed elsewhere on other help pages), you’ll get an unknown error.
- The new account will be listed as Www. You can click it and choose Details to give it a better description.
Your contacts should now appear in the Apple Contacts program and should remain synchronized properly.
Additional reading about this issue can be found in the Apple Discussion forums.
Iowa City Technology Services 
Thanks. I tried this three times now, but I’ve been unable to create the new CardDAV internet account. Twice, a message came back saying “Unable to establish a secure connection,” and once it said “Unable to verify user name and password.” I’ve double checked and re-entered both my Google user name and PW, as well as the correct server URL.
Assuming I can ultimately succeed in creating this new account, I’m assuming that I should uncheck “Contacts” under my Gmail account in Internet accounts. Correct?
Hi Todd. Sorry for the delay in replying. Typically, one can setup a Google account in Apple using Internet accounts. Then, everything should work fine. What’s nice about the Apple system is that you can migrate data from one platform to another (such as Yahoo to Google) by clicking and dragging in the Contacts application.