Reading that article and the follow up[1], it looks like Google made use of a quirk in Safari to give third-party cookies that would otherwise be blocked. No other major browser blocked third party cookies in this way, so the workaround just made Safari act like, e.g., Firefox. The quirk was relatively well-known, used by other advertisers and "like" buttons and such, and the article says that "Facebook even encourages developers to exploit the same Safari quirk Google targeted here.".

Google then: * Acknowledged the problem and apologized * Stated that the workaround was meant to be used for their "+1" buttons and such, but not for advertisements * Stopped giving out these cookies for advertisements on Safari * Was sued by the FCC for $22 million * Is now being sued by consumers on nebulous grounds

If you accept the claim that it was an accident to begin with, I don't see that Google did anything wrong.

[1] http://mashable.com/2013/01/25/google-safari-tracking-lawsui...