Google disables RCS (Rich Communication Services) in India; Know the reason

Google disabled its Rich Communication Services (RCS) in India in the wake of backlash against the feature after companies in India began exploiting it for unsolicited marketing. Google said it will work along with the industry to improve the user experience, but until then RCS won't work in India. That means your previews of rich links, GIFs, animated images, and other items you send to people with the latest Android phones will be gone until the feature is re-enabled.

RCS is a communication protocol that plans to replace SMS by allowing users to send better and more engaging messages, something you will never be able to do with SMS. Google supports RCS on all of its latest versions of Android, and since the maximum amount of smartphone users are on Android, RCS is the fastest way to generate more engagement.

But RCS is not just for individuals. It's also available for businesses that could be more creative with marketing, such as delivering more interactive ads and sending out promotional messages. Wishing to gain more traction, several companies have, in recent months, resorted to spamming users. Google's decision to stop RCS in India comes after multiple users reportedly flagged the issue. Some businesses even have a "Verified Business" label on their Google Maps profile.

"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 was quoted as saying by Android Authority.

Anyhow, disabling RCS in India is a temporary solution because the feature is required to make smartphone communication better than ever. It is available globally and it is a bit peculiar that nowhere else around the world Google has faced such a problem, at least up to this point. Google shared it will work with the industry to improve the experience. That might mean less spam, but promotional messages and other marketing elements won't stop entirely. In India businesses rely on Google's own Jibe Cloud platform, so eliminating spam shouldn't be too difficult. Also, the Google Messages app has its own spam detection feature which will probably improve to fix the issue.

Earlier this year, Google said it's been working with carriers and phone manufacturers over the past few years to bring the Messages app into the mainstream. Google wants the Messages app to become the default messaging app on all RCS-enabled Android phones, as it offers end-to-end encryption and other advanced features. With the RCS-enabled Messages app, Google also hopes to overtake iMessage, which is a popular instant messaging service for iPhone users.