Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced today that Google has agreed to pay $8 million in settlement funds to Texas, to settle allegations that it posted deceptive Pixel 4 smartphone ads. Paxton said Google’s integrity as an advertiser was called into question because the tech giant “hired a radio DJ to record and play detailed testimonials about their personal experiences with the Pixel 4,” but “denied the DJ the phone to let them use”.
Google has already settled with the FTC and six other states for about $9 million. A Google company spokesperson previously said, “We take compliance with advertising regulations seriously and have processes in place to ensure we comply with relevant regulations and industry standards. We are pleased that this issue has been resolved.”
“If Google is going to advertise in Texas, their statements better be true,” Paxton said. He decided to take action to hold Google accountable for “lying to Texans for financial gain,” saying big companies shouldn’t Count on “special treatment before the law”. “Texas will do everything in its power to protect our citizens and state economy from false and misleading advertising by companies,” Paxton said.
This is not the first time Texas has clashed with Google. In 2020, Texas joined other states in suing Google, accusing the company of “illegally maintaining a monopoly in Internet search and search advertising services.” The lawsuit is still ongoing, and this week Google filed a memo asking the court to deny states’ requests to review communications between some of its employees and their attorneys. In addition, in 2022, Texas sued Google, “accusing the technology company of illegally obtaining and using the biometric data of millions of Texans without properly obtaining their informed consent.” Compare to the “Modern Eye of Sauron”.
