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The attorneys general of New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut have settled with Google and IHeartMedia over misleading ads.
The states filed charges against Google and IHeartMedia in September 2017 for allegedly violating a 2012 settlement that required the companies to make sure their ads were not running on sites that engage in illegal activity.
The agreement requires Google to pay the states $5 million, while IHeartMedia will pay $3 million. The money will be used to help fund consumer protection programs in the three states.In a settlement filed this week, the states of New York and Illinois are seeking to end their lawsuits against Google and IHeartMedia, which were filed over misleading ads for prescription drugs. The two companies had been accused of running ads that failed to disclose that they were paid for by drug makers.
The settlement resolves multiple claims in the two lawsuits, including claims that Google failed to disclose that its Sponsored Links program is part of an agreement with pharmaceutical manufacturers. Under the program, those companies pay Google to be featured as "sponsored links" on search results pages. A sponsored link is typically displayed at the top of search results pages and can be clicked on without users needing to enter their email address or phone number.
In one example cited in the court documents, a user searching for "ibuprofen" would see an ad for Advil at the top of their search results page if they clicked on it while viewing sponsored links. However, if they clicked on another ad featuring a generic brand name such as "Tylenol," they would be taken directly to Tylenol's website without seeing any sponsored links or ads.
While you may think that Google and IHeartMedia were simply trying to cash in on the holiday shopping season with a little bit of advertising, they were actually doing just the opposite.
The two companies have settled a lawsuit over Google's and IHeartMedia's alleged false advertising of their radio stations. The issue was that both companies used their websites to mislead consumers into believing they were listening to ads when in fact they were not.
The settlement was announced by attorneys for both companies on Thursday. It does not give any details about how much each company will pay or if any money has already been paid out. However, it does say that neither company admitted any wrongdoing in the case.
"The settlement calls for Google to change its practices related to audio ads on its websites," according to an article by Bloomberg Law."It also allows IHeartMedia to continue airing audio ads that include live broadcasts from competing radio stations."
The California Attorney General has reached a settlement with Google and IHeartMedia over allegations that the companies were misleading consumers by using deceptive advertising techniques.
The settlement requires Google to pay $2.25 million in civil penalties, and it also requires IHeartMedia to pay $2 million in civil penalties and restitution. In addition, the settlement requires both companies to change their advertising practices.
The settlement stems from an investigation by the Attorney General's office into whether Google and IHeartMedia violated California law by promoting digital music services through so-called "sponsored links" on search engine results pages (SERPs). A sponsored link is an ad that appears next to search results when someone enters a query related to the sponsored link."
Since the past few years, there have been a number of cases and complaints on google the brand or on google the search engine!! Google has been showing very irrelevant and illegal content on its search engine which the audience or users aren't liking! Not only content but Google ads are misleading and not targeting the right type of audience. Resulting which people are not getting quality leads or results.
