Mayer Brown wins class action victory for Google in landmark privacy litigation
Mayer Brown secured a significant victory on behalf of Google in one of the best-known and longest-running privacy class actions against the company, In re Google Inc. Cookie Placement Consumer Privacy Litigation. On August 27, 2026, US District Judge Joshua Wolson denied plaintiffs' motion for class certification, bringing a major milestone in litigation that has been pending for more than 14 years.
Originally filed in February 2012, the multidistrict litigation consolidated more than 20 consumer class actions alleging that Google improperly placed tracking cookies on users' Safari and Internet Explorer browsers in 2011. Google denied the allegations, explaining that unexpected programming implemented by the browser manufacturers caused the cookies to be placed unintentionally and that the anonymous cookies served only to display advertisements more relevant to users' interests.
Mayer Brown partner Tony Weibell has represented Google in the case from the beginning, including helping secure the dismissal of all federal claims and most state law claims. The dismissal was affirmed on appeal, and the US Supreme Court denied certiorari. The resulting landmark opinions became standard reading for students of Internet law. The litigation presented novel questions involving the federal Wiretap Act, Stored Communications Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, as well as allegations concerning consumer privacy and online tracking technologies.
In denying class certification, Judge Wolson found that plaintiffs lacked a reliable method for identifying the individuals who allegedly received the cookies at issue through the challenged conduct. As the court stated in its opinion, "Plaintiffs cannot proceed on behalf of a class unless they have a reliable method of identifying the people who allegedly received those cookies through the challenged conduct. After years of litigation and extensive discovery, Plaintiffs still don't have such a method."
The Mayer Brown Northern California litigation team was led by partners Tony Weibell and Elspeth Hansen, counsel David McCarthy, and associate Nina He.
