Get Ready to Cash In: Google to Pay Out $5 Billion After Lawsuit Settlement

Google, the parent company of Alphabet, has settled a lawsuit with all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories. The lawsuit was over anti-competitive actions taken by Google in the Google Play Store. As part of the settlement, Apple has paid $700 million, with $70 million going to the states to cover penalties, restitution, disgorgement, and fees. The remaining $630 million will be distributed to those who made purchases on the Play Store between Aug. 16, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2023.

Those who qualify to receive part of the settlement will be sent a check in the amount of at least $2, depending on how much money they spent in the Play Store during the seven-year period. The details for filing a claim online will be announced soon.

Additionally, Google has settled a $5 billion lawsuit over tracking the personal data of millions of people using the incognito mode on the Chrome Browser. The lawsuit accused Google of tracking users’ browsing histories even with incognito mode enabled. This allowed Google to gather a lot of personal information about users.

The settlement awaits the signature of a federal judge and is expected to be finalized by February 24th of next year. Similar to the previous settlement, details for filing a claim will be revealed at a later date.

This means that more money could be heading to both Android and iOS users as a result of these settlements. It’s a win for consumers who may have been affected by Google’s actions. Stay tuned for more details on how to claim your share of the settlement funds.