Is Google really giving cashback rewards to Pixel users

Pixel smartphone users are receiving money from Google. According to the thread on the /r/GooglePixel community on Reddit, individuals are getting a notification from Google Pay for "dogfooding the Google Pay remittance experience," along with free cashback rewards. While some have received a small payout, others have ended up getting over $1,000 (nearly Rs. 81,800) or more. Here are more details.

The Reddit post from the user u/jodobrowo suggests that a sizeable proportion of Google Pay users with Pixel devices are getting free credits. The mobile payments app may be undergoing testing by Google employees for a new feature/service. It is possible that the tech giant might have mistakenly paid end users with cashback rewards for "testing" GPay features rather than paying its actual staff.

Going by the post on the /r/GooglePixel community, Google is paying cashback for "dogfooding the Google Pay remittance experience." In layman's terms, it means that the company employees are testing a new GPay feature for transactions, before making it available to the general public.

The r/GooglePixel is the largest Pixel community on Reddit with 9.64 lakh members. The active ones provide support and offer new updates related to the Pixel smartphones, Nest, Chromecast, and other Google products. The thread started by u/jodobrowo has received a series of responses from other Pixel users, sharing a nearly similar experience of getting free cash from Google on the GPay app.

While some Pixel users are enjoying the free credit, a few have reached out to Google, after their notifications section started blowing up with updates for free credits. It seems that Google is aware of the situation. The company has informed the concerned users that they will attempt to reverse the payment. However, if they fail to do so, individuals can keep the cash.

According to Google's launch process and certification guide for GPay, when the development of a new feature nears completion, a launch process is initiated. It includes end-to-end testing across devices and form factors. In general, testing is divided into three phases: Integration, Finance, and Dogfooding. Since Dogfooding usually occurs for two weeks before launch, Google Pay users may receive more free credits.