stLouISTAttorney General Raoul Announces $9.4 Million Settlement With Google And IHeartMedia Over Misleading Ads For Pixel 4 Phone
CHICAGO - Attorney Kwame Raoul announced today that his office, along with five other states and the Federal Trade Commission, have reached settlements with Google, LLC and iHeartMedia Inc. that resolve the coalition’s investigations into alleged deceptive ad campaigns that ran false endorsements of the Google Pixel 4 smartphone. The settlements secure more than $9.4 million in civil penalties, of which Illinois will receive more than $1.5 million. According to a complaint filed with the consent judgments, which remain subject to court approval, in 2019, Google contracted iHeartMedia radio personalities to record advertisements endorsing Google’s Pixel 4 smartphone. In these ads, which ran on certain iHeart radio stations and internet streaming services, the radio personalities falsely claimed they used the smartphones and found that they performed favorably. However, the radio personalities never owned or operated a Pixel 4 smartphone prior to making their endorsements.
