Google & iHeartMedia To Pay $9.4 Million In Penalties For Deceptive Radio Endorsements Of Pixel 4 Smartphone

Pixel 4 Smartphone

The FTC has announced that both GOOGLE and iHEARTMEDIA aired nearly 29,000 deceptive endorsements by radio personalities promoting their use of and experiences with GOOGLE’s PIXEL 4 phones in 2019 and 2020. The FTC suit was joined by seven states: ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, GEORGIA, ILLINOIS, MASSACHUSETTS, NEW YORK, and TEXAS and GOOGLE and iHEARTMEDIA settling to pay $9.4 million in penalties.

GOOGLE allegedly paid more than $2.6 million to iHEARTRADIO and almost $2 million “in connection with eleven smaller radio networks” for the ads endorsing the PIXEL 4.

According to the FTC, “GOOGLE and iHEARTMEDIA paid influencers to promote products they never used, showing a blatant disrespect for truth-in-advertising rules,” said FTC BUREAU OF CONSUMER PROTECTION Dir. SAMUEL LEVINE. “The FTC will not stop working with our partners in the states to crack down on deceptive ads and ensure firms that break the rules pay a price.”

For the ads, GOOGLE provided scripts for hosts to read on air, which read like this, per the complaint:

• “The only thing I love more than taking the perfect photo? Taking the perfect photo at night. With GOOGLE PIXEL 4 both are a cinch.”
• “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 … my son’s football game … a meteor shower … a rare spotted owl that landed in my backyard. Pics or it didn’t happen, am I right?”
• “PIXEL 4 is more than just great pics. 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.”
• “I can read up on the latest health fads, ask for directions to the nearest goat yoga class (yes, that’s a thing), and text the location to mom hands-free.”

You can hear examples of the recordings on the FTC’s website.

The majority of the endorsements took place without radio hosts having access to the PIXEL 4. iHEARTMEDIA repeatedly asked GOOGLE for phones during both campaigns and were only sent five devices. 

As part of the settlement, both GOOGLE and iHEARTMEDIA will be barred from misrepresenting endorsers’ experiences. GOOGLE can’t misrepresent experiences with “covered” products (including its consumer products), while iHEARTMEDIA can’t misrepresent experiences with “any consumer product or service.” 

GOOGLE spokesperson JOSÉ CASTAÑEDA told THE VERGE, “We are pleased to resolve this issue. We take compliance with advertising laws seriously and have processes in place designed to help ensure we follow relevant regulations and industry standards.” 

iHEARTMEDIA declined to comment.

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