Texas sues Google over Pixel 4 ads

While the Pixel 6 family has been on store shelves for months now, the state of Texas sued Google last week over its 2019-2020 Pixel 4 ads.

The lawsuit, filed by State Attorney General Ken Paxton, describes a script allegedly created by the company that required radio station DJs to promote the Pixel 4 family by actively endorsing it. It appeared after the signing of the contract, immediately causing concern among representatives of radio stations due to the deceptive nature of advertising.

It allegedly mentions lines such as "all my pictures came out like they were taken in the studio", and as examples it was suggested to mention "a meteor shower shot on the Pixel 4" or "a rare spotted owl in the backyard of the house."

In response, the DJs asked Google to lend a Pixel 4 to a radio host to create a real experience of use, but were refused with the wording that the devices were not yet on sale.

Later, in 2020, the situation repeated itself, but even then, for unknown reasons, Google refused to provide smartphones to radio hosts until they themselves bought them with their own money.

If the court finds Google guilty, it will be ordered to pay a fine of up to $10,000 for each of the 2,405 advertising broadcasts - more than $24 million. Commenting on the situation, a Google spokesman said it was "misrepresenting reality" and "taking advertising laws seriously."