102 million people eligible for Google’s lawsuit settlement

Tens of millions of U.S. consumers will get a payout as Google shells out $700 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit brought by state prosecutors over the high fees it charges app developers. Google will pay $630 million into a fund that will be divided among an estimated 102 million eligible consumers across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the settlement terms for Utah et al v. Google. Google will pay an additional $70 million for a fund to be used by the states to resolve other related claims. The states wrote in a court filing that they estimate at least 70 percent of eligible consumers, or 71.4 million people, will receive automatic payments without having to file a claim. According to the settlement terms, an “eligible consumer” for the payout is an individual whose legal address in their Google payments profile was in one of the U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands when they purchased an app from Google Play or made an in-app purchase, including subscriptions, through Google Play Billing from Aug. 16, 2016, through Sept. 30, 2023. As part of the terms, Google says it will simplify the process for users to “sideload” apps — or to download them to their phones directly from a developer’s website instead of going through the Google Play store.