After rolling out RCS to its Messages app a couple of months ago, Google is now adding more new features to the software to offer users a safer messaging experience. The first one, called Verified SMS, will help users confirm the true identity of the business that’s texting them, while the second one is a real-time spam-detection algorithm that will safeguard users from unwanted and potentially unsafe messages, said the company in an official blog post.
Verified Messages
According to Google, the Verified Messages feature works by verifying, on a per-message basis, that content is sent by a specific business. “When a message is verified—which is done without sending your messages to Google—you’ll see the business name and logo as well as a verification badge in the message thread”, said the company.
The feature is rolling out in a number of markets globally, including in India, where Google Pay and all verification codes from Google will be part of the program. Alongside India, the feature is also rolling out in the US, Mexico, Brazil, the UK, France, Philippines, Spain and Canada. More countries will be added to the list going forward, said the company.
Real-Time Spam Detection
The real-time spam-detection feature has already been available in select markets over the past year, and is now being rolled out to all users globally. It warns users of suspected spam messages and unsafe websites by crowdsourcing the spam-identification process from users around the world.
According to Google, “If you see a suspected spam warning in Messages you can help us improve our spam models by letting us know if it’s spam or not. You can also report spam texts in Messages at anytime, and block the conversation so you won’t receive future messages (from those senders)”.
