HOUSTON – If you performed a Google search and clicked on a search result at any time from October 25, 2006, to September 30, 2013, you are eligible to receive a portion of their $23 million class action lawsuit settlement.
The search engine recently agreed to the settlement in response to a lawsuit by consumers claiming that Google shared their searches with advertisers and third parties without their users’ knowledge or consent.
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If you are one of the millions who qualify for financial compensation, you must submit a claim form on or before July 31 at 11:59 p.m. in order to receive the currently estimated $7.70 per claimant.
Here’s how to submit your claim.
Visit the settlement website. You must register to receive a “class member ID” for your claim. Click on the Registration Form button in the sidebar or click here to enter in your information.
Once you have registered, you should receive a class member ID via text or email.
Using that ID, you can then fill out the four-step claim form, found here to print out and mail in, or in the Submit Claim button in the website’s sidebar. Through the website, you can either choose to have the payment mailed to you in the form of your check, directly deposited into your bank account, or through a digital payment method such as Venmo, Paypal, or Zelle.
After providing your signature, you can submit your claim form, after which you will receive a claim number for your records. The entire process should take no longer than five minutes.
The final hearing to approve the settlement will take place Thursday, October 12. The settlement, if approved, will also require Google to post disclosures on its “FAQs” and “Key Terms” webpages about its information-sharing practices, in order to better enable users of the search engine to make informed decisions about their online privacy.