Hi all, I’m genuinely sorry about these issues, on top of it billing caps not being able to prevent this bug is also real frustrating, we’ll get on this.
We will provide daily updates on this thread from now on until all these issues are addressed.
Latest updates as of today
1. Billing bug on the API that caused overcharging when using Google search between April 7 to April 14.
Status: Fixed (on April 14th)
2. Identifying affected users and implementing billing corrections
Status: In Progress
We identified all the affected users and corrections are in progress to be applied. We’ll give an update tomorrow on the expected timelines of this, on this thread.
3. Communicating the issue to the affected users
Status: In progress.
An email is scheduled to go out in the next few days.
4. Billing caps not respecting to the overcharged amount
Status: Open
This is a new issue that came to our attention – spending caps should have caught this issue even if it was a bug I just kicked off the investigation for this with the product team.
Please let me know if this is the accurate list, if not, I’m happy to add more here and start giving you daily updates.
And in addition to these, @depasquale, you mentioned above issues with the support team, I sent you a note and added few folks in, we’ll ensure you get what you need
2. Identifying affected users and implementing billing corrections
Status: In Progress
We’re making good progress here, I’m aiming to provide a more concrete update tomorrow.
3. Communicating the issue to the affected users
Status: Done
You should now have received a clear email of the issue and next steps, if not let me know.
4. Billing caps not respecting to the overcharged amount Status: In Progress
We’ve reproduced the issue and are now investigating a fix.
In addition to this list, @depasquale I also looked at switching to pre-paid billing and sent you a note for your specific case. As a summary, this capability exists for US-based users, but we’ll be rolling this out more widely in the next month or so.
@Ali_Cevik - Thank you for actively looking into these billing issues and providing updates on this thread. I can confirm that I received the email notification from Google on April 20 acknowledging the billing bug, and the credit has been applied to my account.
However, I’m now experiencing what appears to be a new billing system error following the resolution of the April 7-14 overcharging bug.
Background:
My project (gen-lang-client-0622294154, billing account 017A4D-C029BB-2633F8) was affected by the original billing bug. I received the official email on April 20 confirming my project was impacted, and billing corrections have been applied. I now have a credit balance of SGD 129.86.
New Issue (Started April 22, 2026):
My account is configured as POSTPAY, but after 30-60 minutes of API usage, I’m getting this error:
“Your prepay credits are depleted. Add credits to resume.”
Pattern:
API works initially and draws down my credit balance as expected
After 30-60 minutes of usage, the error appears and blocks all API calls
Created new API keys - same pattern repeats
Account Configuration:
Billing Model: POSTPAY (not prepay)
Current Balance: -SGD 129.86 (credit balance, no amount due)
Payment Method: Active credit card on file
Billing Tier: Paid Tier 1 (SGD321.69 cap)
The API appears to be incorrectly checking for “prepay credits” when my account is configured for postpay billing. This may be related to how the billing system is handling accounts after refunds from the April 7-14 bug were applied.
This seems potentially related to Issue #4 in your list (billing caps not respecting overcharged amounts), though the symptom manifests as an incorrect account type check rather than a cap issue.
Could this be investigated as part of the ongoing billing system review? I’m currently unable to use the API despite having a paid account with credit balance.
Support case reference (if helpful for internal tracking):#70171096
Should I start a new thread for this issue, or do you think it’s related enough to the original billing bug to track here?
I saw that the billing bug was reportedly fixed on April 14th and some users have received refunds, but unfortunately, we are still experiencing major issues.
On my account, despite a $2 AUD limit, I was billed over $100 AUD for “Generate content search query Gemini 3.” The system shows over 10,000 requests spiking on April 14th and 15th, which is far beyond my actual usage. Out of concern, I blocked my card, which has now caused my account to be restricted.
My Project ID: gen-lang-client-0584567716
My Project Number: 304581704688
To provide further context, this issue appears to be ongoing. After my initial billing spike, my colleague continued her work using Gemini 2.5 Flash, which operated perfectly without any billing anomalies. Believing the bug had been resolved, she switched back to testing Gemini 3 Flash on April 22nd. During this test, she made just over 200 actual requests. However, the billing dashboard showed a massive discrepancy this morning, incorrectly logging more than 6,000 requests for that single day.
Hey folks, corrections for this specific incident should be all processed now.
We’re investigating other issues flagged here, they seem different, I’m on email threads with some of you for your specific cases. I’ll also provide a more elaborate update as I learn more.
I just kicked off the investigation for this with the product team.
