New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that her office, along with a coalition of five other states and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), reached a $9.4 million from Alphabet Inc.”™s Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) for airing misleading advertisements about a Google device.
The advertisements ran in 2019 and focused on the Google Pixel 4 phone. In the advertisements, radio personalities described their personal experiences using the device, which had yet to be made available anywhere. The misleading ads ran in English and Spanish more than 23,000 times in 10 different markets, including in New York ”“ which violated the state”™s consumer protection laws.
New York will receive $1,524,621 from Google and $56,767 from iHeartMedia in civil penalties, costs and fees as part of the settlement.
“Google and iHeartMedia knowingly misled the public through inaccurate ads to turn a profit,” said James. “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. Consumers deserve to know the truth about products before making any purchases. My office will not tolerate misleading claims, and outright lies from advertisers, and we will hold them accountable.”
