Google Messages RCS is used by brands to bomb Indian consumers with unwanted ads: Report

New Delhi: Several companies and brands have reportedly abused Google’s Messages’ RCS (Rich Communication Services) feature in India to bombard consumers with multiple ads, particularly the sale of personal loans and life insurance, without their consent. Google Messages New bug causes rapid battery drain: Report.

Many users have learned on social media platforms that RCS ads on Google Messages appear to come from Verified Business accounts, and the frequency of such ads has increased over the past few months.

RCS upgrades SMS with branding, multimedia, interactivity and analysis. With RCS, businesses can provide branded interactive mobile experiences directly in the default messaging app. According to Google, millions of companies rely on SMS to communicate with mobile users.

RCS Business Messaging upgrades SMS with branding, multimedia, interactivity and analysis. With RCS, businesses can deliver branded interactive mobile experiences right in the native Android messaging app.

However, consumers in India are already reporting a flood of ads, mostly related to personal loans, gambling companies and life insurance, reports 9to5Google.

An inquiry sent to Google India went unanswered. One user complained on Twitter that he didn’t even have an active SIM card on his smartphone, but even then he was sent one of these personal loan ads from BankBazaar, India’s largest fintech credit card issuer and online platform for free credit score.

“The amount of ads [Google Messages] sending is crazy, many times every day. Yes, these are NOT messages, these are ads pushed by the Indian consumer app. This is the default messaging app on most Android phones here, “said technical advisor Ishan Agarwal on Twitter.

Android Police said the problem has been around for about a year and “the complaints seem to come mostly from India-based users.”

“The trend initially exploded with Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Buddy Loan and PolicyBazaar being the biggest violators,” the report said.

While several brands around the world use messaging and SMS apps to advertise new products, these ads, which take place in India, “are not necessarily the result of consumer buying,” the reports said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 20, 2022, 12:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, the world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, visit our website latestly.com) .