Google owner Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and iHeartMedia Inc have reached a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and seven US states over allegations of deceptive advertising promoting Google's Pixel 4 smartphone.
In a statement on Monday, the FTC said that the two companies aired nearly 29,000 deceptive endorsements by radio personalities promoting their use of and experience with Google's Pixel 4 phone in 2019 and 2020.
The allegations were settled by the companies, who agreed to pay $9.4 million in penalties, the US regulator added.
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The seven states to join the FTC were New York, Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas. The adverts ran in English and Spanish and violated consumer protection laws, the FTC and the seven states alleged.
"Google and iHeartMedia paid influencers to promote products they never used, showing a blatant disrespect for truth-in-advertising rules," FTC official Samuel Levine said in the statement.
A Google spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement that the company was pleased to resolve the case, saying: "We take compliance with advertising laws seriously and have processes in place designed to help ensure we follow relevant regulations and industry standards."
Earlier this month, Google agreed to pay nearly $400 million to settle allegations by 40 US states that the search and advertising company illegally tracked users' locations. The US Justice Department sued Google in 2020, accusing it of antitrust violations in its search business, claims that Google denied.
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