Google is introducing enhanced spam protection by automatically marking SMS messages suspected as spam in Google Voice.
According to 9to5Google, Google’s spam caller alert feature has expanded to include spam alerts from SMS messages on Android and iOS devices.
When a message is marked as spam, you’ll see a label indicating its status. A red exclamation point will pop up in the profile avatar area, and the message preview will start with “Suspected spam “.
When you discover this label, you have two options. One is to confirm that the message is spam, any future messages from that number will go straight to the spam folder. Alternatively, you can mark messages labeled as not spam and will no longer see the suspected spam label for messages from that number.
This feature is currently available to paid Voice Starter, Standard, and Premier customers and users with free personal accounts in the US. It is now rolling out and will be available to all users in the coming weeks, according to PhoneArena.
Google’s goal with spam protection is to keep users safe from unwanted calls and potentially harmful scams. In Google Voice, any call it considers spam will be tagged as “Suspected Spam Caller.”
Google is also rolling out some new updates. Specifically, when hovering over someone’s user card in Google Contacts and many other Google Workspace products, users will see birthday decorations. If you’ve added your birthday to your Google Account profile and made it visible, you’ll get those decorations