Google disables RCS feature on Messages app on Android phones in India

Due to the lackadaisical attitude of cellular service providers and phone-makers, Google had to wait longer to introduce RCS (Rich Communication Services) for Android phones to enrich the traditional Text SMS in 2019. This made the latter support exchange of multi-media content on par with the rival Apple Messages app.

However, business enterprises misused the multi-media-friendly RCS feature to flood the Messages app with ads on Android phones. This had become a huge mess, particularly in India, and over the past couple of weeks, several annoyed consumers vent their anger against Google on social media platforms.

Taking cognizance of the issue, the search engine giant has disabled the RCS feature on the Messages app in India.

"We are aware that some businesses are abusing our anti-spam policies to send promotional messages to users in India. We are disabling this feature in India while we work with the industry to improve the experience for users," a Google spokesperson said to DH.

Here are some of the user comments on Twitter over ads on the Google Messages app:

The issue has been resolved for now, but Google is looking to see how soon it can fix the spam filter to block ads and re-introduce the RCS feature on the Messages app.

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