Google is accused of misleading advertising in the disclosure of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, launched in 2019, in different communication vehicles. In total, seven American states filed a lawsuit against the company, denouncing irregularities in advertisements published between 2019 and 2020.
In addition to the states, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the American body responsible for overseeing market practices, is also suing Google. In advertisements, radio presenters talked about the qualities of smartphones without ever having access to the device🇧🇷 Google could be fined $9.4 million.
Google released irregular advertisements on radios
One of the outlets in which Google spread the misleading advertisements was Texas-based iHeartMedia. Depending on the vehicle, Google was asked to deliver some Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL for presenters to test with smartphones – but the request was denied by big tech.
Instead, what iHeartMedia radios received were advertisement scripts, in which all the “wonders” were never tested in hands by the presenters. In these scripts, there were ready dialogues valuing Night Sightnative night photography mode of the Pixel 4 series — in addition to false claims about the presenters having used the smartphones.
In one of the lines in the script, the presenter would have to say “I’m taking studio-grade pictures of everything. From my son’s football game, meteor shower, a rare owl that landed in my backyard.” The texts also extolled the use of Google’s Voice Assistant.
iHeartRadio, the radio of the iHeartMedia group, received approximately $2.6 million for the advertisements. Google also paid around $2 million for other lower range radios.
Lawsuits in seven states, advertisements in ten
In addition to Texas and the FTC, Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York are suing Google for false advertising. The FTC further asserts that 11 media outlets in 10 states were paid to run the “first-hand” advertisements of Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL smartphones🇧🇷
In response to The VergeJosé Castañeda, representative of Google, said that the company is ready to resolve the situation.
With information: The Verge and gizmochina
https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/2022/11/29/google-promoveu-propagandas-enganosas-para-endossar-o-pixel-4/