Google Search Class Action Settlement

Photo Credit: Unsplash | Updated: October 18, 2023

Settlement Status: Awaiting Approval

Claim Form Deadline: July 31, 2023 (Passed)

Estimated Payout: $7.70

Proof required: No

What's the Google Search Class Action About?

A $23,000,000 class action settlement against Google, Inc. over allegations that Google shared users' search information with third-parties between October 26, 2006 through September 30, 2013 without getting appropriate permissions from users who searched on Google. The Google class action lawsuit alleges that by sharing user information with these third-parties without getting permissions from users, Google was exposing user data wrongfully and putting their data at risk.

While Google, and its holding parent company Alphabet, Inc., deny any admission of guilt or wrongdoing, they have accepted the terms of the $23 Million settlement in order to avoid the risks and costs associated with the original lawsuit going to trial rather than a class action settlement.

Any users in the U.S. who clicked on a Google search result at any time between October 26, 2006 and September 30, 2013 may be eligible for a payout from the Google Search Settlement.

How Was My Privacy Affected With Google Search?

The "referer" header (often spelled incorrectly in the context of Internet technology) is an HTTP header field that is sent by your user web browser, such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge in order to indicate the URL of the referring page from which the current request originated. For instance, when you click on a link to visit a webpage, your browser includes the referer header in the HTTP request sent to the server hosting that webpage, under some normal circumstances.

In the case of Google, when you perform a search and click on a search result, the referrer header sent to the website you land on from clicking on the query result, typically contains the URL of the Google search results page you clicked on, which can contain significant information about your user behavior as you use Google to search the web.

How Do I Know If I Qualify?

No proof is required in order to file a claim in this class action settlement at this time. However, in order to figure out if you qualify for payment from the Google Search class action settlement, you must fit the following criteria decided by the Court:

• Ran a Google Search and clicked on a search result,
• Used Google Search anytime between October 26, 2006 through September 30, 2013,
• Used Google to search and click on results while in the United States.

How Much Will I Get Paid?

According to the Google Search class action administrators, the current estimated payout per user is about $7.70 per valid and timely claim form filed, which you can find a link to below. This is just an rough estimate according to the settlement admins, and may be updated. Stay posted on this website to see any updates to the estimated payout.

How Do I File a Claim and Get Paid?

To file a claim and receive payment, follow the link below and file a claim by the deadline of July 31, 2023. You will need to register first (see button below, under 'Submit Claim Form') in order to receive a class member ID. Once you receive your class member ID for the Google settlement via email, you will be able to submit a claim form with the Google Search class action administrator. Make sure to do the following before filing a claim with the Google Referrer Header Privacy Litigation class action administrator (website is linked below):

• Visit the settlement website (below) and carefully review the provided FAQs for detailed instructions on filing a claim.
• Make sure to meet the respective claim submission deadline of July 31, 2023, also specified on the official class action administrator's website.

The final approval hearing for the Google Class Action Settlement has been scheduled for October 2023, where a legal proceeding will allow a judge to review and determine whether to approve the proposed settlement agreement, described in this article, which was reached between Google and the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit. If approval is granted by the judge, the case will have time for any appeals to be brought forward. If no appeals are upheld, users who filed valid and timely claims can typically expect class actions like this to take about a year after the claims period ends (on July 31, 2023) for a payout, although this varies and can be much longer or shorter than a year.

Filing Class Action Settlement Claims

Please note that your claim form will be rejected if you submit a settlement claim for payout with any fraudulent information. By providing this information and your sworn statement of its veracity, you agree to do so under the penalty of perjury. You would also be harming others that actually qualify for the class action settlement. If you are not sure whether or not you qualify for this class action settlement, visit the class action administrator's website below. OpenClassActions.com is only providing information and is not a class action administrator or a law firm. OpenClassActions is a participant in the Amazon affiliate advertising program and this post may contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission or fees if you make a purchase via those links.

Similar Facebook Class Action Settlements

Facebook has had a recent history of settling massive privacy class actions in 2023. One of these data privacy settlements is a no proof required class action that is open to claims until August 25, 2023. The settlement established a record breaking $725 million to reimburse users for alleged data privacy violations.

In a record breaking settlement, Facebook had agreed to pay a $5 Billion fine to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission of the United States), a $100 Million settlement with the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), and may be facing future lawsuits and settlements related to data privacy since the $725M Meta Settlement does not cover U.K. Facebook users. Facebook also has a long history of separate class action settlements related to user privacy violations. Two of the most massive and recent Facebook settlements were:

• $90 Million Facebook User Track Class Action - Facebook agreed to pay $90,000,000 to Facebook users whose data was allegedly tracked and improperly collected when visiting websites other than Facebook.com. The settled class action lawsuit alleges that Facebook obtained and collected data from Facebook users in the United States who visited non-Facebook websites that displayed the Facebook Like button. Those external sites allowed Facebook to collect data from Facebook users even while they were not on Facebook.com without user consent.

• $650 Million Facebook Privacy Settlement - In a landmark class action settlement, Facebook agreed to fund $650,000,000 for a class action fund to be distributed to qualifying Facebook users. Facebook ended up paying $397 to hundreds of thousands of Facebook users whose privacy rights may have been violated by Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms, Inc. The settlement fund was agreed upon as the result of a class action lawsuit against Facebook for violating Illinois Privacy laws - this law is called BIPA, or the Biometric Information Protection Act.

How Do I Find Class Action Settlements?

Find all the latest Class Action Settlements you can qualify for by getting notified of new lawsuits as soon as they are open to claims:

How Do I File a Claim in the Google Privacy Settlement?

Follow the links below to the Google Referer Header Settlement, the official class action administration websites. If you did not receive a notice in your mailbox or email you will need to register first (follow the link below under 'Register Me') or follow this link.