Google accidentally pays some Pixel users as much as $1,000

Some Reddit users are wondering whether Google is giving away money. It certainly would be a new business plan for the company and somehow, we don't think that investors in the stock would take too kindly to such a strategy. Of course, you know that Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai didn't wake up one morning feeling generous enough to share Google's wealth with some Pixel users.

But on the r/GooglePixel subreddit (via Gizmodo) some Pixel users report that they have received notifications of payments made to their accounts from Google adding up to as much as $1,000. The notifications say that the money was a reward "for dogfooding the Google Pay Remittance experience." The process of dogfooding is when company employees test a new feature or service from the same company before the public gets to use it. The use of the "dogfooding" term means that the money should have been sent to Google developers testing the Google Pay software.

Besides seeing a notification informing you that you are the accidental recipient of cash from Google, you can find if you are as lucky as some of the other Pixel users by opening the Google Pay app, tapping on the "View deals" tab and if you have received money from Google, it should show up there.

One person whose wallet is a bit heavier today is tech journalist Mishaal Rahman who tweeted, "Uhhh, Google Pay seems to just be randomly giving users free money right now. I just opened Google Pay and saw that I have $46 in "rewards" that I got "for dogfooding the Google Pay Remittance experience."

But if you were accidentally sent the money and took out the cash, you don't have to wear sunglasses or avoid your usual hangouts as Google is not asking for it back (besides, Google could finally find you wherever you go). In an email that Google sent to recipients of their accidental largesse, the company wrote, "You received this email because an unintended cash credit was deposited to your Google Pay account. The issue has since been resolved and where possible the credit has been reversed."

Google continues, "If we were able to reverse the credit, it has already been reflected in your account activity. If we were not able to reverse the credit, the money is yours to keep. No further action is necessary. We apologize for any inconvenience."

It's not every day that Google shares its wealth. It would be interesting to know how many Pixel users were accidentally sent payments and how much Google accidentally paid out. However, we're pretty sure that the company would prefer to keep quiet about this and mum is the word in Mountain View. But mum is never the word on Reddit and it seems that the dollar amounts of these "rewards" adds up to some real money.

After one Reddit user said that he received $240 from Google, another wrote, "Very nice! You got me beat by $15... I was on my way to get my windshield replaced and then a crap ton of notifications kept popping up as I'm waiting at the shop. when the dust settled $225. I'm not going to complain." One of the largest amounts was received by a stunned Redditor who could only write, "$1072. Why? How?"

Don't feel bad if you did not receive any money from Google. The process apparently was random and those who received money from the search giant had their accounts chosen by the luck of the draw. If you were one of the lucky ones who did receive the cash, you might want to hold it aside since Google has a few devices that it plans to release later this year including the Pixel Tablet, Pixel 7a, Pixel 8 line, Pixel Watch 2, and the Pixel Fold.