FTC sued Google & iHeartMedia for deceptive Pixel 4 ads

The Federal Trade Commission has sued Google and iHeartMedia for showing deceptive Pixel 4 ads to people. Other than this, FTC has also sued seven states for airing 29,000 false ads. These ads feature radio personalities who promoted Pixel 4 phones in 2019 and 2020.

FTC has released a report, revealing that Google and iHeartMedia had hired influencers to promote the Pixel flagships and have also given them scripted content in which they spoke such as “It’s my favorite phone camera out there, especially in low light, thanks to Night Sight Mode,”, “I’ve been taking studio-like photos of everything,” and “It’s also great at helping me get stuff done, thanks to the new voice-activated Google Assistant that can handle multiple tasks at once.”

The FTC website noted that these companies have hired those influencers who have never even used the devices before and after the airing of ads. To make it possible Google paid $2.6 million to iHeartRadio and $2 million to other small radio networks for fakely endorsing Pixel 4. The lawsuit that was filed against both these companies and influencers was that they never used this phone before airing the ads.

While telling about this case, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said:

“It is common sense that people put more stock in first-hand experiences. Consumers expect radio advertisements to be truthful and transparent about products, not misleading with fake endorsements,” 

For this, FTC has proposed that these companies should pay $9.4 million in penalties. and make sure that such deceptive ads should not air in the future.

The proposed FTC order and the state judgments settling the allegations bar Google and iHeartMedia from similar deceitful advertisements in the future. They also require the companies to cough up $9.4 million in penalties.

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