Judge Blocks $2.36B Disgorgement Push
Following the verdict, plaintiffs sought to escalate the stakes, pressing for $2.36 billion in profit disgorgement — a figure they described as a “conservative approximation” of Google’s net gains from the conduct during the class period.
They also requested a permanent injunction barring Google from collecting sWAA-off data, compelling deletion of already-collected information and dismantling algorithms and services that relied on such data.
Judge Seeborg rejected those requests.
“Plaintiffs have failed to establish prospective irreparable harm, making a permanent injunction inappropriate,” he wrote. He further held that they had not shown entitlement to disgorgement because their legal remedy was adequate and their profit estimates insufficiently supported.
The judge noted that collecting sWAA-off data “is not problematic in isolation.” The violation stemmed from alleged misrepresentations about data practices — a concern he said has since been “ameliorated.”
Even if some injunctive relief were justified, the proposal put forward by the plaintiffs was “far too broad,” he added.
