So yes, VP8 (and thus Google) won.
I guess that's a matter of opinion then.
Because if the person really didn't order (or receive) any meal, and they still had to pay anything to clear up matters, I wouldn't say they won. At most I'd say they got off relatively well, considering circumstances. The restaurant, however, getting any money for a meal they didn't make, is a clear winner.
On the other hand (and I'm not sure how/if this holds up in the analogy because I'm not entirely clear about what's going on with the Google/MPEG-LA thing) if the restaurant did prepare the meal they claim the person ordered (but who didn't), assuming they got less than the costs of the meal, both are losers. Which figures because miscommunication often lead to waste.
So yeah, Google may have paid the restaurant for their meal but now everyone else who goes to that restaurant and orders the same thing now gets it for free.
If you're hungry, I'd recommend ordering what Google ordered and eating for free.
>covering more users and more usage scenarios
given that I'm not aware of any phone, set top box, AV accessory, etc that supports VP8 accelerated decoding.