Class Action
Google RTB
In re Google RTB Consumer Privacy Litigation
Where it stands
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers granted final approval on March 26, 2026 of an injunctive-relief-only Rule 23(b)(2) settlement. Google must deploy an 'RTB Control' letting users limit personal data shared in real-time bidding — stripping encrypted Google User IDs, device advertising IDs, IP addresses and cookie-matching data from bid requests — within 30 days, publish RTB-specific disclosures, and email all active U.S. account holders. Class counsel received $21,856,239.22 in fees and $3,488,792.96 in costs; the seven named plaintiffs received $15,000 each. No money went to absent class members, and their damages claims were preserved.
Key ruling
In 2024 the court denied Rule 23(b)(3) certification because Google's affirmative consent defense raised individualized issues — a denial that pushed the case toward an injunctive-only 23(b)(2) resolution and, in March 2026, a settlement forcing a new user-facing RTB privacy control.
Note on this record
No monetary relief for absent class members; do not describe this as a money settlement.The record
- Court
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- Case number
- 4:21-cv-02155-YGR
- Filed
- Filing date not established
- Defendants
- Google LLC · Alphabet Inc.
- Plaintiffs
- All individual Google account holders subject to the U.S. Terms of Service with accounts active within two years of the effective date — estimated at a minimum of 169 million and potentially more than 200 million people — whose personal information was shared in Real-Time Bidding auction requests.
- Technology at issue
- Google Real-Time Bidding (RTB) programmatic advertising exchange / Authorized Buyers
- Relief sought
- Injunctive relief and, before the 23(b)(3) denial, damages including CIPA statutory damages of $5,000 per violation.
- Counsel of record
- Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP · Pritzker Levine LLP
Claims pleaded
Sources (3)
- Judge approves Google RTB settlement forcing new user privacy controlPPC Land · 2026-03
- In re Google RTB Consumer Privacy Litigation — case pageBleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP
- Affirmative Defense of Consent Leads to 23(b)(3) Class Certification Denial in Google Ad Bidding Privacy LitigationCovington & Burling — Inside Class Actions · 2024-05-07
This page describes a publicly filed case. This site is not counsel on this matter, nothing here is legal advice, and the allegations described are allegations unless a court has said otherwise.