The news: Google will settle three lawsuits over its data collection practices, adding to the tech giant’s string of legal troubles.

• Google and Texas authorities agreed to a $1.3 billion settlement addressing claims that the company unlawfully harvested biometric data, including facial and voice information, violating state biometric privacy protections.
• Google also settled a companion lawsuit in Texas alleging that it engaged in deceptive practices by tracking location data from Chrome users who were browsing in incognito mode.
• The company also reached a settlement in principle as part of a legal conflict dating back to 2019 that alleged Google breached children’s privacy regulations by monitoring YouTube viewing habits to deliver personalized advertisements.

Zooming out: The settlements come amid a sea of legal battles for Google that are chipping away at its market position.

• A federal district court judge ruled for a second time last month that Google maintains an illegal monopoly in ad exchanges and ad servers used by publishers to manage ad inventory. The two rulings could lead to a forced sell-off of Chrome or other key assets that would weaken Google’s advertising power.
• In 2024, Google faced a renewed lawsuit accusing the company of collecting data through Chrome without permission, alleging that Chrome sent user data to Google regardless of whether Google Sync was enabled or the user had a Google account.
• The European Court of Justice ruled in 2024 that Google would pay a €2.4 billion ($2.6 billion) fine for abusing its market dominance in the shopping space by making its shopping recommendation more prominent in search results than rivals.

Our take: Google’s search ad dominance means advertisers are likely to keep investing, regardless of legal scrutiny—but the myriad of charges threatening Google’s market power could lead to meaningful changes in search.