Google has agreed to pay settlements totaling millions of dollars to various US states over accusations of misleading advertising and location-tracking practices. The largest of these settlements is with the state of Texas for $3.35m, as the company was accused of running adverts for locksmiths in the state without background checks on them. Texas also claimed that advertisements for these locksmiths were falsely claiming to be based in Texas, with some charging rates up to 20 times higher than originally quoted. The settlement comes after a similar legal dispute over the company’s location-tracking practices.
Last year, Google agreed to pay $392m to 40 states to resolve allegations over the use of data collection practices for location purposes. As part of those allegations, Google was accused of collecting user data even when users tried to stop the practice on their smartphones or computers. Under the consent decree, Google has agreed to be more transparent about this practice with a new “Location Technologies” webpage that will be available to users. Google has also agreed to pay $40m to the state of Washington to settle a lawsuit over allegations that the company misled customers about its privacy policies, including the collection and sale of data on their movements throughout the day.
In addition to these settlements, Google will pay Texas another $8m for false advertising accusations. The state claimed that Google paid for deceptive radio commercials for the Pixel 4 that were broadcast by hosts who had not been provided access to the devices. Additionally, these ads were broadcast despite Google being aware that they violated US advertising laws. This settlement is separate from an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission over similar claims, for which Google reached a $9m settlement with the FTC and six states earlier this year.
Texas is currently pursuing multiple antitrust lawsuits against Google, and these legal settlements further highlight the increased scrutiny the company is under in regards to its advertising and data collection practices. While these settlements allow Google to put these legal battles behind it, it remains unclear if and how these lawsuits will impact the company’s business operations going forward.
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