In the "Don't do (let them see you doing) EVIL department, Google gets a slap on the wrist for tracking users underhandedly.

"The $22.5 million fine would be the largest privacy-related settlement in F.T.C. history. It comes as the commission investigates Google for antitrust violations and cracks down on privacy missteps by tech companies, including Google, which last year agreed to pay for any future privacy blunders as part of a separate F.T.C. settlement."

I'm sure they made far more money retargeting users than they had to pay in this fine.

This kind of thing seems to happen regularly with Google: the fines they have to pay round to zero.

So they'll continue to take the position that it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.