Judge signals £14m fine for Google

A US federal judge has said she is leaning toward approving a government settlement that will require Google to pay a 22.5 million dollar (£14.19 million) fine to resolve allegations that it duped web surfers using the Safari browser in order to track their online activities.

The Federal Trade Commission reached the agreement with Google in August, but court approval is still needed.

US District Judge Susan Illston indicated during a court hearing in San Francisco that she will approve the settlement.

The hearing gave a consumer rights group a final opportunity to persuade Judge Illston to scuttle the agreement on the grounds that it does not do enough to prevent Google from future misconduct.

The judge brushed off most of the misgivings raised by Consumer Watchdog. She did not indicate when she will issue a ruling.