From 2006 to 2013, Google shared users’ search queries with third-party websites. Now, those affected are receiving payouts from the 2023 settlement. The first payment was $7.70, but the second was even lower: 12¢.
As decided by a U.S. District Court in California in October 2023, the search engine giant has to pay those affected by the privacy breach a combined $23 million. But because so many people use Google—in 2007 alone, Google hosted over 300 billion searches—the payout for each affected individual was estimated to be $7.16, though many online say they received $7.70.
Payments initially started going out to affected individuals who filed claims in January, but some of those didn’t go through. Thus, all of the money that didn’t reach claimants was pooled and then reallocated to those whose initial payments did clear. So, those who received the first payment of $7.70 received another payment of 12¢ (or 11¢, for some) in the last week.
As claimants were able to choose how they received their payments, some said they received their 11¢ or 12¢ via PayPal, Venmo, or even a physical check.
Many were disappointed in how small the second payment was.
“This is got to be a joke,” an X user tweeted. “Why did I receive $0.12 from the Google Referrer Header Privacy Settlement?”
“Just received a whopping .11 cents from a Google settlement,” another X user wrote. “They coulda kept that.”
“What’s the point?” a redditor wrote in the r/MildlyInfuriating subreddit, alongside a photo of their check for 12¢.
Others joked that their newfound 12¢ payment made them rich.
“Class action payday! Catch y’all from my private beach while I live off my Google Referrer Header Privacy settlement of $0.12 USD!” an X user said.
“How does everyone plan to spend their Google settlement money?” another person tweeted.
And others said that the tiny second payout wasn’t worth their search queries being shared with third-party companies.
“I got my .12 cents payment from the Google header privacy settlement,” an X user tweeted. “Is that worth the deception and lies?”
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