Google’s Pixel 4 radio ads lead to another $8 million settlement in Texas

Ben Schoon | May 15 2023 - 8:55 am PT

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In 2019 Google was accused of running “deceptive” radio ads for its Pixel 4 series, and the company is now set to pay out $8 million in a settlement as a result.

As we reported late last year, a case went to court accusing Google of running “deceptive” radio ads for the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL in 2019. The ads featured “made up” testimonials from radio personalities who hadn’t actually used the Pixel 4. The campaign saw Google and iHeartMedia paying “influencers to promote products they never used, showing a blatant disrespect for truth-in-advertising rules,” the case alleged.

The main problem in place was how the ads were read, with radio personalities being paid to provide endorsements on the phones as if they had actually used them, with phrases such as “my favorite phone camera” being used when those individuals hadn’t used the device at all.

In 2022, Google was hit with $9.4 million in penalties from several states.

Now, another settlement is going through in Texas, where Google will pay $8 million to the state over the same matter. In an announcement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said:

If Google is going to advertise in Texas, their statements better be true. In this case, the company made statements that were blatantly false, and our settlement holds Google accountable for lying to Texans for financial gain. Google enjoys significant influence over individual consumers and the marketplace broadly. It is imperative that large companies do not expect or enjoy special treatment under the law. They must be held accountable for their misdeeds.