Google Messages users in India have reported that they have received a lot of unwanted ads in recent weeks through Rich Communication Services (RCS), and Google has employed a response strategy: disable them all. Company spokeswoman Kaori Miyake confirmed to The Verge that Google has disabled the feature in India: “We are aware that some companies are abusing our anti-spam policies to send promotional messages to users of the We are disabling this feature in India as we work with the industry to improve the user experience. “
The ads in question were delivered using RCS’s corporate messaging feature, which allows verified companies to send messages to customers that go beyond typical text, with interactive images and features. Google presents this as a way for brands to communicate with established customers – messages you may want on your phone. But people who use RCS in India have experienced it in a very different way. They’ve seen frequent messages coming in from companies promoting credit cards and gambling applications, among other things.
Until now, people reported that the only way to avoid ad attacks was to disable RCS altogether, not an ideal experience. Google’s decision to turn off business messaging is a better short-term alternative, but it’s clearly not a long-term solution. In 2019, Android Messages product management director Sanaz Ahari told us that the company’s vision for RCS was “a fantastic, simple user experience that only works for all users. Android “. RCS has come a long way since then, but obviously there is still work to be done.
Updated June 1, 4:00 PM ET: Updated to include a Google Statement.