Google Agrees to Pay $8 Million For Deceptive Pixel 4 Ads

Google has agreed to pay $8 million (around Rs 650 crore) to settle claims of using deceptive advertisements to promote its older Google Pixel 4 smartphone in the United States. Google, has been under multiple investigations in its home country for anti-competitive activity by both the federal government and state attorneys.

In this instance, Google was accused of hiring radio announcers to give testimonials about the Google Pixel 4, which came out in 2019 without allowing them to use any of the phones. The Texas Attorney General took Google to court over it.

"If Google is going to advertise in Texas, their statements better be true," Reuters reported the state attorney general as saying. "In this case, the company made statements that were blatantly false, and our settlement holds Google accountable for lying to Texans for financial gain," he added.

Google said it was pleased to resolve the issue, adding that it takes compliance with advertising laws seriously.

Google's Problems Pile Up in India

The lawsuit comes after Google has been facing stiff anti-competitive face-off in India with app developers demanding access to third-party app stores, removal of default Google apps, and more, after a ruling by the Competition Commission of India imposing a penalty on Google and asking the search giant to roll back those policies.

The company is also under similar investigations, particularly around the PlayStore fees charged by the company for in-app payments in countries such as South Korea, United States and others.

Furthermore, a fresh lawsuit in India filed by Tinder owner Match Group along with other Indian startups complaining to the competition watchdog to investigate Google's new User Choice Billing system, alleging they were anti-competitive.

The CCI on Friday said it has issued an order to start an inquiry.

The Google Pixel 4 came out in 2019, but did not launch in India. The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL were available in other global markets, featuring an unique Soli radar which uses mmWave frequencies for hands-free operations and face unlock. The radar which used the 60GHz band was not allowed to function in India. It allowed users to skip songs or pause music with just a wave of their hands.

The smartphone series came with two rear cameras, a 12MP primary camera and a 16MP zoom lens, and was powered by the Snapdragon 855 and 6GB RAM.