Towards a decision in the US: Google may compensate consumers with approximately 630 million dollars

According to the terms of the settlement, Google will transfer approximately $630 million as direct compensation to consumers, and another approximately $70 million as civil fines to the countries that led the legal process. The right to compensation applies to users who made purchases through Google Play between August 2016 and September 2023 and were harmed, according to the claim, by the company’s conduct during this period.

In the countries that participated in the lawsuit, the authorities started sending eligibility notices already at the beginning of December. Some users have been asked to check their email, as the message includes information on how to receive the money. In most cases, it was reported, there is no need to file an initiative claim or fill out forms.

Under the arrangement, payment will be automatically transferred to users’ PayPal or Venmo accounts, provided the email address or phone number on the payment account matches the one on the Google Play account. Users who do not have a matching account will be able to open a new account, or choose to transfer the money to an existing account with different identification information.

At the same time, a supplementary procedure will be opened for users who will not be able to receive the automatic payment, for example those who no longer have access to their old email address, those who do not wish to open a PayPal or Venmo account, or those who believe they were entitled to compensation but did not receive it. This procedure will allow the submission of a dedicated application after the start of the distribution of payments.

Approval of the settlement is subject to the court’s decision, which is expected to be accepted at a hearing scheduled for the end of April 2026. Only after approval will the process of actually transferring the funds begin. Google previously stated that the settlement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing, and claimed that it preserves the freedom of choice in the Android system and allows the company to continue investing in the ecosystem of developers and users.

For millions of users in the US, this is a relatively small monetary compensation for each person, of only about two dollars, but in total it is one of the largest consumer settlements signed with a technology company in the last decade.