Google tries a questionable new tactic to promote Gemini in Google Messages

Key Takeaways

• Google has integrated Gemini into many of its products, and has been promoting it heavily over the past year or so.
• The brand has taken to directly messaging users on Google Messages, which may be seen as invasive.
• Users can disable Gemini messages in Messages settings menu to prevent this.

Google needs no introduction, as most of us use the brand's offerings on a daily basis, whether its Search, YouTube, Android, or one of its many other products. But over the past couple of years, AI has become a big part of the brand's focus, with Gemini taking center stage at many of its events, and arriving in many parts of the brand's current products and services. Google and other brands are betting big on AI, so it's understandable that these companies would want to push its offerings to their current and potential customers.

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And while there's nothing wrong with this, especially if it makes sense, there's a line that many would think that you don't cross, and it appears that Google has now crossed that line. In a report by 9to5Google, it looks like Google is now "encouraging" users to check out Gemini with a new message that appears in the Google Messages app. And while a splash screen or some other form of invitation to use the service would be great, Google is directly messaging users to try out Gemini, making it appear as a standard message, as if a friend or family member were messaging you, which is, to say the least, a bit questionable.

This is not the way Google

Source: 9to5Google

The message which can be seen in the screenshot above reads: "Hi, I’m Gemini in Google Messages. Chat with me to draft messages, brainstorm ideas, plan events or simply have a fun conversation." Again, we get it, Google wants to get Gemini out to as many people as possible, but sending a message and doing it like this just isn't the right way.

Of course, it's unclear right now just how many times this message has been sent out or if it's still ongoing, but 9to5Google does have a solution that will prevent these types of messages from coming through, and it can luckily be changed in the Google Messages settings menu. If you want to turn off this kind of behavior, you'll want to head into Settings, then navigate to Gemini in Messages section, then the Show Gemini button.

Once this is selected, it should remove (archive) the message, and you should be good to go. With that said, with RCS is now enabled with the release of the latest iPhones and iOS 18, users should no longer have problems communicating with iPhones users going forward, being able to share full resolution images, videos, and more.

Google has long sought to have parity across all chat platforms and, after a long fight, it has finally succeeded. Of course, you'll still see green bubbles, but at least now you and others won't need to suffer through a lackluster experience.