Attorney General James Provides New Information for Consumers to Receive Restitution from $700 Million Google Settlement

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today issued a consumer alert notifying New Yorkers of new information and instructions to receive funds from a $700 million settlement with Google secured by Attorney General James and a coalition of 53 attorneys general. In December 2023, Attorney General James and the coalition secured the settlement with Google for harming consumers for years by suppressing competition and unfairly raising prices. Attorney General James co-led a bipartisan coalition in suing Google in 2021, alleging that it unlawfully maintained a monopoly over mobile app distribution and in-app payment processing for Android devices, and used its monopoly power to charge consumers as much as 30 percent in fees for purchasing apps and making in-app purchases. If the settlement is approved by the court, the majority of the settlement funds will be used to pay consumers who made purchases on the Google Play Store between August 2016 and September 2023 and were harmed by Google’s anticompetitive conduct. Google will also make changes to stop its anticompetitive practices that harmed consumers and app developers.

“When big corporations use their monopoly power to stifle competition and raise costs, consumers pay the price,” said Attorney General James. “For years, Google took advantage of its control over its app store to overcharge its customers and box out competing developers. I urge all New Yorkers who may be eligible for restitution to follow the settlement instructions to ensure they get their money back.”

Google has already paid $630 million into a settlement fund. Beginning December 2, 2025, consumers who made purchases on the Google Play Store between August 2016 and September 2023 and were harmed by Google’s anticompetitive practices received notices about the claims process for the settlement funds. Affected consumers may not have to do anything to receive a payment from the settlement fund. The settlement fund will make the majority of payments automatically, and no claim form is necessary in most cases.

Once the settlement has been approved by the court, consumers will receive an email from PayPal or a text from Venmo notifying them of their incoming payment at the email address or mobile phone number associated with their Google Play account. If that email address or phone number is also associated with a PayPal or Venmo account, then the payment will be made directly to that account. If that email address or phone number does not match an email address or phone number associated with a PayPal or Venmo account, then consumers have the option to create a new account or direct the payment to a PayPal or Venmo account at another email address or phone number.

There will be a supplemental claims process after the automatic payments process is complete for consumers who either:

• Do not have an existing PayPal or Venmo account and do not want to sign up for PayPal or Venmo;
• No longer have access to the email address or mobile phone number associated with their Google Play account; or
• Were expecting to receive a payment but did not.

If consumers would like to be notified by email when the supplemental claims process starts, they may submit their name, email address, and mobile phone number on the settlement website.

Attorney General James encourages all affected consumers to keep track of important upcoming dates in the settlement process:

• Consumers who do not want to receive payment from the settlement fund and want to bring their own case against Google must submit a request to be excluded online or in writing by February 19, 2026.
• Consumers who want to object to the settlement can file a written objection by February 19, 2026.
• The court will hold a hearing on April 30, 2026, to consider whether to approve the settlement. 

Joining Attorney General James in securing this settlement are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For New York, this matter was handled by former Senior Enforcement Counsel Bryan Bloom, Assistant Attorney General Ben Cole, and former Assistant Attorney General Olga Kogan, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Elinor Hoffmann, all of the Antitrust Bureau. The Antitrust Bureau is a part of the Division for Economic Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D’Angelo and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.