Google Settles Yet Another Lawsuit, Agrees To Pay USD 8 Million for 'Deceptive' Pixel 4 Ads

Texas, May 15: Google has settled yet another lawsuit. The search engine giant was accused of running misleading advertisements for its Pixel 4 smartphones. These ads were run in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston markets.

On Friday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that the company has reached a settlement. It has agreed to pay $8 million (approx Rs 65 million). He emphasized the importance of holding corporations accountable for their misdeeds to ensure that big companies do not receive special treatment under the law.  Vice Media, Which Announced Layoffs and Sacked Over 100 Employees, Set To Declare Bankruptcy in Coming Days: Reports.

"If Google is going to advertise in Texas, their statements better be true, In this case, the company made statements that were blatantly false, and our settlement holds Google accountable for lying to Texans for financial gain," Paxton said in a statement.

To recall, Google was accused of creating false narratives through DJs’ testimonials without providing them with the new Pixel 4 smartphones. Ads claiming “Personal Use” aired on the Radio before the launch of the Pixel 4 series.

The lawsuit claims that Google produced ad scripts which were read on-air by DJs at iHeartMedia. However, instead of an ad copy, these claimed personal use and endorsement of the Pixel 4 series. They praised features like Night Sight mode and Google Assistant’s capabilities. Twitter New CEO Linda Yaccarino Says Let’s Build Twitter 2.0, Transform Business Together With Elon Musk and Millions of Platform Users.

However, the commercials aired before the launch of the Pixel 4 series. In fact, the DJs never used the devices they offered testimonials for. Hence, the Texas Attorney General's office accused the search engine giant of engaging in false, misleading, and deceptive acts.

This is not the first payout by Google over these radio spots. Previously, the company settled with the Federal Trade Commission and six other states for $9 million. The new settlement once again highlights the need for honesty in advertising practices. It will send a message that large corporations are not immune to the law.

It is to be noted that the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL failed despite the controversial ad campaign. Recently, Google launched the new Pixel 7a smartphone along with several other devices. Google Dark Web Monitoring Tool Expands To All Gmail Users, Now You Can Run Scans To If Your Gmail Address Is On Dark Web.

In India, the competition watchdog has begun an inquiry into Google after some companies alleged the company's service fee for in-app payments breaches an earlier antitrust directive. The new Google User Choice Billing (UCB) system is alleged to be anti-competitive. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) supports the enquiry.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 15, 2023 10:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).