Google and iHeartMedia person agreed to wage a full of much than $9.4 cardinal dollars to 7 states, including Illinois, to settee claims implicit allegedly deceptive advertisements, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Monday.
According to Raoul's office, an probe began pursuing 2019 erstwhile Google contracted iHeartMedia personalities to grounds advertisements endorsing its Google Pixel 4 smartphone. The vigor personalities claimed they utilized the smartphones and recovered that they performed favorably, Raoul's bureau said successful a quality release. However, the personalities neither owned nor operated a Pixel 4 anterior to the endorsements, the merchandise stated.
"“Google and iHeartMedia misled customers with fabricated advertisements,” Raoul commented. “I americium committed to seeking enforcement against businesses and others who interruption the instrumentality to instrumentality vantage of Illinois consumers.”
The ads, which ran connected iHeart vigor stations and net streaming services, aired successful the Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and San Francisco markets.
Under the colony agreement, Google and iHeart Media volition wage astatine slightest $1.5 cardinal to Illinois and a full of $9.4 cardinal to the states that filed suit. In addition, the companies person agreed to comply with the Federal Trade Commission's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials successful Advertising, not marque misrepresentations astir an endorser’s acquisition and supply related compliance reports to states, according to the terms.
Google volition beryllium required to taxable reports for 3 years portion iHeart Media indispensable record reports for 10 years, according to the Illinois Attorney General.
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