$22.5 m fine over Google privacy row

Google Inc's $22.5 million agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission to settle claims the company improperly planted cookies on Apple Inc's Safari Internet browser was approved by a federal judge.

The United States District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco found arguments from a consumer group that the settlement was inadequate were unpersuasive and accepted the agreement.

The court "finds that the proposed order is both procedurally and substantively fair, adequate and reasonable," Illston wrote in her order issued after Friday's hearing.