Texas sues Google over radio ads for its smartphones, alleges false and misleading claims
Texas' attorney general has sued Google, alleging the company asked local radio DJs to record personal endorsements for smartphones that they hadn't used or been provided.
In the lawsuit filed in Montgomery County, Attorney General Ken Paxton said Google engaged in false and misleading practices in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.
The lawsuit says Google hired iHeartMedia in October 2019 to have its radio personalities — including those in markets in the Dallas and Houston areas — record advertisements for the Pixel 4, a Google-brand smartphone.
But at the time the advertisements were recorded, the lawsuit says, the phone wasn't released yet and none of the DJs had used them. The suit says that even though iHeartMedia "expressed to Google the violative nature of the advertisements" if the DJs had not used them, Google did not provide phone samples.
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Google spokesman José Castañeda said that the company takes compliance with advertising laws seriously and has policies in place to help ensure they follow regulations.
"We will review the complaint but the AG's allegations appear to misrepresent what occurred here," Castañeda said.
![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton -- flanked by District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine -- leads a news conference outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., last month announcing an antitrust investigation into Google. [The New York Times]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/oIpfzP0.9.VOmf.a7Q0G9g--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcxOA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/austin-american-statesman/bea82f9a2912caa44dbdc388cbc7101c)
Paxton also sued Google in December 2020. In that lawsuit, Texas led a group of states alleging Google was running an illegal digital-advertising monopoly in cahoots with Facebook. Google, which is based in Mountain View, California, called the claims in that lawsuit "meritless."
Paxton, who faces several Republican primary challengers in his reelection bid this year, is facing a years-old criminal case and a newer FBI investigation.
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He pleaded not guilty in a state securities fraud case, which has been stalled since 2015. He has denied wrongdoing in the separate criminal investigation launched after his then-top deputies reported him to the FBI in 2020 and accused him of bribery and abuse of office.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas attorney general sues Google over radio ads for its smartphones
