Officials Give New Details on $700 Million Google Settlement

Most of the payments would go out automatically if the consumer has PayPal or Venmo.

The logo Google Play displayed on a tablet screen in Paris, on April 19, 2018. Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images

Google has agreed to pay out a $700 million settlement to people who paid to download apps through the Google Play Store, while the amount individuals could receive may vary, officials in multiple states announced.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a statement that he and 52 other state attorneys general had received “new information on how consumers will receive their payout.”

The settlement, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division in December 2023, would direct most of the money to consumers who purchased apps via the Google Play Store and suffered harm from Google’s alleged anti-competitive practices, officials said.

“This case was never just about app purchases–it was about what happens when a company quietly controls the choices and prices that millions of people rely on every day,” said Rayfield in his statement. “That kind of power affects households in a real way. This settlement begins to unwind that. This work is about giving families and small businesses a voice, and making sure this doesn’t happen again.”

The Epoch Times contacted Google for comment on Wednesday.

Previously, Google told news outlets that Android and its Google Play app store “have continuously evolved to provide more flexibility and choice in response to feedback from developers and regulators, as well as intense competition from Apple and app stores across the open Android ecosystem.”

“We demonstrated this in the recent trial and were disappointed that the verdict did not recognize the choice and competition that our platforms enable,” the statement said. “While we are challenging that verdict and our case with Epic is far from over, we remain committed to continually improving Android and Google Play.”

Epic Games sued Google in 2020, winning a jury verdict in 2023 that Google’s allegedly monopolistic policies had harmed it, an outcome upheld on appeal in July 2025.

According to the Vermont attorney general’s office, which also announced the $700 million settlement, customers who may be eligible for the payout began receiving notices on Dec. 2, 2025. Impacted customers include those who made purchases through the Google Play Store between August 2016 and September 2023.

“Most affected consumers do not need to take further action to receive a payment from the settlement fund,” the office said. “The settlement fund will make the majority of payments automatically, and no claim form is necessary in most cases.”

After the court approves the deal, consumers should also receive an email via PayPal or Venmo saying their payment at a mobile phone number or email address associated with their Google Play account is incoming, the office said.

People who lack a Venmo or PayPal account and who do not want to sign up or no longer have access to either account may have to go through an additional process to obtain their share of the settlement.

Customers who are expecting a payment of the settlement and did not get one may also need to take further action, the office added.

A website was set up for the Google settlement, which says the “majority of payments” will be made on an automatic basis. The site offers users the ability to get email notifications about the claims process.

In the lawsuit against Google, the state attorneys general said that consumers had paid too much for purchases and apps via Google Play and alleged that the company engaged in a monopoly on the distribution of apps on certain Android devices and for in-app billing services, the website says.