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Google, iHeart lawsuit overview:
- Who: Google and iHeartMedia have reached a $9.4 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and seven states.
- Why: The settlement ends claims Google paid radio DJs to endorse its Pixel 4 phone even though they hadn’t used it.
- Where: The Google, iHeart settlement applies to Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas and New York.
Google and iHeartMedia have agreed to pay a combined $9.4 million to the Federal Trade Commission and seven states to end claims it paid radio DJs on the iHeart platform to say they loved Google’s Pixel 4 phones, even though they hadn’t used them.
The settlement was announced by New York Attorney General Letitita James Nov. 28, the same day she filed New York’s lawsuit against the companies.
According to the lawsuit, Google paid radio personalities to record endorsement ads describing their positive experience using the Google Pixel 4 phone, however, they had never used the phone prior to recording or running the ads, James said.
The misleading ads allegedly ran in English and Spanish more than 23,000 times in 10 different markets, including in New York, a violation of New York’s consumer protection laws.
Google and iHeartMedia will pay more than $9.4 million in civil penalties, costs, and fees, which will be divided between a coalition of states that sued: Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas and New York.
“Google and iHeartMedia knowingly misled the public through inaccurate ads to turn a profit,” James said. “False advertising is a fraud against the public. Companies big and small have a responsibility to be honest about their products and follow the law, there are no exceptions.”
Google required radio personalities to describe their personal experiences using the Pixel 4, lawsuit alleges
In 2019, Google partnered with iHeartMedia and other local radio stations to run an ad campaign for the Google Pixel 4, the lawsuit alleged.
In these ads, Google allegedly required radio personalities to describe their personal experiences using the Pixel 4, despite the phone not yet being available for sale.
“Google refused to provide the phones to any stations in advance of recording and airing the ads, so the radio personalities’ statements about their experiences using the phone could not be true,” James said in a statement. DJs were asked to say the Pixel 4 camera was their favorite phone camera, and that it took studio-like photos.
In addition to the payout, Google will be required to provide compliance reports to New York for three years, while iHeartMedia will be required to do so for 10 years to ensure it is not running ads with false endorsements, James said.
In 2016, iHeartMedia Inc. agreed to pay $8.5 million to resolve allegations that the mass media company violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending out unsolicited text messages to its radio listeners.
What do you think of this settlement with Google and iHeartMedia? Let us know in the comments!
The states were represented by their respective attorneys general.
The New York Google iHeart lawsuit is New York v. Google et al., Case No. unknown, in the Supreme Court for the State of New York, County of New York.
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