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TechGoogle

A 12-Year-Old Boy Almost Owed Google $112,000

By
Madeline Farber
Madeline Farber
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By
Madeline Farber
Madeline Farber
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October 11, 2016, 12:00 PM ET
IF! Italians Festival 2015 - Day Two
Google.Photograph by Pier Marco Tacca — Getty Images

A 12-year-old boy in Spain just made a very expensive mistake.

José Javier, a trumpet player in a band called Los Salerosos, racked up a $112,000 (€100,000) bill when he was trying to promote his band via Google’s (GOOGL) advertising platform AdSense. But he confused it with Google’s other advertising platform, AdWords, according to CNBC.

Javier apparently didn’t realize that AdWords charges the account holder each time someone clicks on their advertisement. AdSense, the platform he intended to use, allows people to make money from their advertisements.

The boy’s family reportedly sought legal action to combat the bill, The Inquirer reports. But fortunately for Javier, Google let the mistake slide: The tech company cancelled the bill, despite having a page that explains the difference between AdWords and AdSense.

“We have looked into this case and we haven’t received any money from the user. We are canceling the outstanding AdWords balance. Many online services, including Google (GOOGL) AdWords, have age limits,” Google told Fortune in a prepared statement.

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By Madeline Farber
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