• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, October 11, 2023

Google has decided to stop claiming that its YouTube TV service is “$600 less than cable” after losing a decision and an appeal with an advertising review board.

The claim, made in two ads, was challenged this summer byCharter Communications, using a fast-track complaint process offered by the Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division (NAD).

After the NAD decided in August that Google should discontinue the claim, Google appealed the decision through the National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the appellate advertising body of the BBB’s National Programs.  

The NARB panel has now agreed with the original decision to recommend that Google discontinue the claim.

The “$600 less than cable” claim was accompanied by a disclosure identifying “comparable standalone cable” as the basis of comparison. The price calculation underlying the challenged claim included the cost of two set-top boxes per household for “standalone cable” services.

The NARB panel determined that the commercial disclosures were not clear and conspicuous.

And in agreement with NAD, the NARB panel concluded that at least one reasonable interpretation of the challenged claim is that YouTube TV is $600 less than any comparable service available from companies traditionally associated with cable services.

However, Google’s claim included the cost of two set-top boxes in the cost comparison, and many households can subscribe to basic Spectrum service without renting cable boxes. The panel also said that YouTube TV did not have a valid reason to include the cost of Spectrum’s Sports View option in the price comparison, because in certain markets, cable providers offer regional sports networks (RSNs), but YouTube TV does not.

Google stated that it disagrees with NARB’s determination that people watching the challenged commercials would “somehow understand ‘cable’ to mean something other than traditional cable television,” but added that it “intends to modify or cease the disputed advertising claim.”

Google also said that it might reconsider the claim at a later date, based on updated information.