Google, iHeartMedia to pay millions in settlement over Pixel4 ads

According to a Monday press release from the agency, Google and iHeartMedia will be paid millions in connection with the Federal Trade Commission FTC and a handful of states in connection with ads for the Pixel 4 smartphone.

The FTC accused Google and iHeartMedia of violating the FTC Act, alleging that they aired endorsement ads in 2019 and 2020 that made it seem like certain iHeartRadio personalities owned or regularly used Pixel 4 phones and took nighttime photos with them, when that wasn't actually the case for many of those DJs. A total of nearly 29,000 of the deceptive Pixel 4 endorsements were broadcast by the two companies in multiple major markets during the time period, the FTC claimed.

The FTC said in its consent agreements with Google and iHeartMedia that the companies must submit compliance reports and keep records for compliance-tracking purposes. They also have provisions forbidding the companies from misrepresenting that an endorser has owned or used, or about their experience with, any consumer product or service, per the agency s release.

According to the state releases, Google and iHeartMedia must pay $9.4 million to New York, more than $1 million to Massachusetts and more than 1.5 million to Illinois.

In total, six states reached settlements with Google and iHeartMedia. Texas also joined the group in a settlement with the mass media company, the Illinois attorney general s office said.

Jose Castaneda, a Google spokesman, told FOX Business, "We are pleased to resolve this issue." We have processes in place in place designed to make sure we follow relevant regulations and industry standards, and we take compliance with advertising laws seriously. Google launched the Pixel 4 about three years ago. It has also rolled out other editions of its smartphone, including the Pixel 7 lineup this year.