Google, iHeartMedia fined over $9 million for fraudulent advertisements of Pixel 4 on radio

The FTC or Federal trade commission and a number of states in the United States announced that Google and iHeartMedia had settled a case where they were accused of airing misleading and fraudulent ads of the Pixel 4 over the radio. 

The settlements stem from complaints alleging Google partnered with iHeartMedia paid to have radio personalities endorse and talk about their personal experiences using the Pixel 4 between 2019 and 2020, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta. At the time, the phone wasn’t available and many of the radio DJs had not even used it, Bonta said.

The complaint alleges that the fraudulent ads were run more than 23,000 times across various radio stations and markets. 

To settle the lawsuit, Google will be paying about $9 million whereas iHeartMedia the largest owner of radio stations in the United States, will pay over $400,000. A few smaller radio stations which ran the ads are also likely to pay.

The complaint alleges that Google provided a script to iHeartMedia, which was then sent to radio hosts, radio personalities and various other influencers on board the media organisation. The scripts spoke positively of the photography and video experience of the device, and included first-person language of using the phone’s camera to take photos at night for events like football games and meteor showers and how well it performed in low light. The script also praised how well the integrated voice assistant and the voice activation system worked on the Pixel 4.

While brands sending scripts for “paid reviews” is a grey area and not an uncommon practice, the radio celebrities in this instance did not experience the device in any meaningful way to come to the conclusions that were highlighted in the ads. Most of them hadn’t even seen the smartphone in question. 

Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Texas and the Federal Trade Commission were part of the settlements.

Of the settlement money, California will receive nearly $3 million. The money will be split between the state and Alameda County, where the case was filed, and be used to enforce consumer protection laws, a spokeswoman for Bonta said.

The settlement bars Google from making misrepresentations in endorsements of its products for 20 years. The company will also be required to regularly report to California about its compliance with the settlement.

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