Google LLC and iHeartMedia, Inc.
The FTC and seven states alleged that Google and iHeartMedia aired nearly 29,000 first-person radio endorsements of the Pixel 4 by presenters who had not been given the phone before recording. State judgments require $9.4 million in penalties.
Resolved. Refunded, settled, ceased operating, or the claim did not hold up. Kept for the record.
Identity
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- Registrations
- In the Matter of Google LLC and iHeartMedia, Inc. (FTC case 2023092, final orders 2023)
- Jurisdictions
- United States (federal) · Arizona · California · Georgia · Illinois · Massachusetts · New York · Texas
Twenty nine thousand first-person endorsements of a phone nobody had
In 2019 Google hired iHeartMedia and eleven other radio networks across ten major markets to have on-air personalities record and broadcast first-person endorsements of the Pixel 4.
Google supplied the scripts. They included lines such as “It’s my favorite phone camera out there, especially in low light, thanks to Night Sight Mode,” “I’ve been taking studio-like photos of everything,” and a line about the new voice activated Google Assistant handling multiple tasks at once.
The personalities reading those lines were not given Pixel 4 phones before recording and airing the majority of the advertisements. They did not own or regularly use the product they were describing from personal experience.
Nearly 29,000 such advertisements aired across 2019 and 2020.
The scale of the platform
iHeartMedia, headquartered in San Antonio, is the largest radio station owner in the United States, with more than 850 AM and FM stations and an internet radio network reaching more than 245 million listeners a month.
The orders
The final consent orders bar Google from misrepresenting that an endorser has owned or used certain products, or misrepresenting their experience with them, and bar iHeartMedia from the same for any consumer product or service. Both must distribute the order internally, file compliance reports and keep records.
Separate judgments obtained by seven state attorneys general require the companies to pay a total of $9.4 million in penalties.
What is not established
A consent order is for settlement purposes only and is not an admission that the law was violated.
Sources
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- Enforcement action November 28, 2022
- Enforcement action February 9, 2023
- Enforcement action February 9, 2023
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First recorded November 28, 2022 · Last updated February 9, 2023