The Pixel 4 series used to be Google's hottest phone lineup, comprised of some of the best smartphones of its time, even if both the Google Pixel 4 XL and 4 might have been a bit flawed. They're currently not much more than a nostalgic memory, though. The series launched in 2019, and since then, we've seen three new generations of the Pixel take its place. It looks like the Pixel 4 is coming back to haunt Google, though. The company is being sued by the Federal Trade Commission for dubious ad tactics used three years ago.

The FTC announced that it's suing Google and radio broadcasting behemoth iHeartMedia for "deceptive ads" promoting the Pixel 4 lineup (via Engadget). According to the agency, both companies paid influencers to promote the Pixel 4 and the Pixel 4 XL and talk about their experience with the phones on radio, despite most of them not having used Google's smartphones in depth. These deceptive ads were aired about 29,000 times on radio during the Pixel 4's promotion campaign in 2019.

Influencers that took part in this campaign were handed scripts with lines like “It’s my favorite phone camera out there, especially in low light, thanks to Night Sight Mode” and “I’ve been taking studio-like photos of everything,” yet none of them were daily-driving the phone or testing them out "before recording and airing the majority of the ads," the FTC says. Involving influencers in marketing campaigns isn't a practice unheard of, but having them speak as if they used the phones when they actually haven't is misleading and against FTC advertisement rules.

As a result of this lawsuit, Google and iHeartMedia might be forced to cough up $9.4 million in penalties, and they might also be barred from doing similar misleading ads in the future. One thing is clear: Google will have to be a lot more careful about how it enlists the help of celebrities in the future.