After U.S. v. Google: what advertisers may recover
Two federal courts found that Google used its monopoly to inflate advertising prices. The 12.5–23% band is this site’s illustrative model of what that could mean for your business. Start with your estimate — it takes seconds.
No upfront fees · nothing owed unless you recover
Illustrative recovery estimate
$0
Based on a 20% overpayment model, before fees. Actual recovery depends on the claim and is not guaranteed.
How mass arbitration works
Google’s advertising terms waive class actions: disputes must be resolved one business at a time, in individual arbitration. Mass arbitration is how advertisers pursue that at scale — many individual claims, prepared together.
When advertisers accepted Google's advertising terms, they agreed to resolve disputes through individual arbitration and waived the right to join a class action. These claims cannot be litigated as a class — each business must bring its own.
Mass arbitration makes that practical at scale. Intake, evidence, and legal theory are coordinated across many advertisers, while each claim is prepared and filed on one business's own spend history. The scale creates leverage; the claim stays yours.
There is no upfront cost at any point. The fee is a percentage of what is actually recovered, agreed in writing before anything is filed. If you recover nothing, you owe nothing.
The same terms that block a class action also give every advertiser a defined, individual path to pursue recovery on its own behalf.
Eligibility
Four checks, under twenty seconds. Past spend counts — you do not need to be a current Google advertiser.
The recovery process
Model your range from your historical spend.
A few details about your business and accounts.
Antitrust counsel assesses your claim individually.
Your filing is built from your actual spend history.
Your claim proceeds in individual arbitration; if it succeeds, recovery follows.
Why this opportunity is legitimate
D.D.C. · August 2024 · Judge Amit Mehta
“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
The court documented internal “pricing knobs” used to raise advertiser costs without improving the ads.
Read rulingE.D. Va. · April 2025 · Judge Leonie Brinkema
“Google has willfully engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising.”
After a three-week trial, the court found Google unlawfully tied its publisher ad server and ad exchange together to suppress competition.
Read ruling
Reviewed by counsel
Marshall Silver
Founder, Silver Arbitration LLC · Harvard Law School, J.D. ’09
Marshall previously negotiated major commercial deals for Apple and later founded and led technology-enabled ventures. He brings that legal and operating experience to the review of advertiser claims.
Questions
The foundation is public: two federal court rulings, both linked above so you can read them yourself. And the fee structure runs the right way — no one ever asks you for money. Fees are only ever paid out of an actual recovery.
It is a model, not a quote. The calculator applies a 20% illustrative overpayment assumption to your spend. Your actual recovery depends on eligibility, records, legal review, and the outcome of your claim.
Because recovery depends on facts that are not knowable from spend alone. The Silver Arbitration LLC reviews the actual account history before deciding whether and how to pursue a claim.
To begin, an approximate spend figure and your Google Ads account ID. Your spend history lives in your Google Ads account, and claims are built from that.
Past spend counts. What matters is that your business purchased Google Ads during the qualifying window, not whether you are still advertising today.
You can still claim. What matters is that your business paid for the ads — whether you ran them yourself or an agency ran them on your behalf.
Starting takes minutes. The legal process is longer and varies by claim — it is handled for you, with updates along the way.
Contingency. Fees come out of what is recovered for you, and are agreed before anything is filed. If you recover nothing, you owe nothing.
No. There is no upfront cost and no obligation at any point before a signed engagement agreement.
Final step
A few minutes to start. The legal work is handled for you.
Start my recoveryMove Labs coordinates intake; a signed agreement with Silver Arbitration LLC is required before any claim is filed. Recovery is not guaranteed.