HARRISBURG, Pa. – Attorney General Dave Sunday is offering information for Pennsylvania consumers who may be due restitution payments from a national $700 million settlement with Google over its monopolistic practices regarding its Google Play Store app.
Consumers who made purchases on Google Play Store between August 2016 and September 2023 are eligible for payments and are expected to receive them automatically – after the settlement is finalized, likely in spring 2026. Most affected consumers do not need to take further action to receive a payment from the settlement fund.
Impacted consumers began receiving notifications last week after a court’s preliminary approval of the settlement, which also requires Google to stop its anticompetitive practices, a news release states.
Pennsylvania is expected to receive an approximate $20.5 million share of the settlement fund for impacted consumers.
“When any corporation uses their monopoly power to stifle competition and raise costs, consumers pay the price,” Sunday said. “While impacted consumers are expected to receive payments automatically, Pennsylvanians who used this app should still pay close attention to the timeline and other details of the settlement.”
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 cellphone 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 cellphone number associated with their Google Play account.
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 can submit their name, email address and cellphone number on the settlement website.
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