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With over 850 million smartphones in India and digital ad spends projected to cross ?60,000 crore this year, mobile should be the undisputed king of ad formats. And yet, there's a silent revolt brewing. Users are tired. Not of ads, but of spam. From incessant unknown calls to fishy SMS blasts and suspicious app alerts, what was once engagement has turned into annoyance. In this growing sea of digital noise, a new form of currency is beginning to dominate: trust.
Spam fatigue is real—and it is reshaping brand strategy. India continues to rank among the top spammed countries globally, according to Truecaller, with users receiving over 20 unsolicited calls per month on average. No surprise then that consumers are increasingly opting out: ignoring unknown calls, blocking random SMSes, or simply uninstalling apps that over-communicate.
Enter what many in the industry are now calling the 'trust economy’—a shift from volume to verification, from reach to recognition.
According to Yaron Tomchin, CEO at Mobupps, “Consumer fatigue from intrusive outreach has made trust a prerequisite for engagement. To combat this, forward-looking brands are integrating identity verification tools such as branded caller ID, verified SMS, and Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging into their outreach strategies.”
These tools aren’t just shiny new baubles. They’re functional performance enhancers. Think of branded caller ID: a company logo flashes up on your screen, the business name is verified, maybe even a call reason is displayed. “These tools visually authenticate the brand before any interaction happens,” Tomchin explains. “This is anonymous dials, and verified messaging formats consistently reduce opt-outs by signaling legitimacy upfront. Google’s RCS platform reports CTRs of up to 25%—almost triple that of regular SMS. Numbers like these are forcing marketers to consider what should’ve been obvious: people don’t just want to be spoken to; they want to know who’s talking.
Pulkit Narayan, Founder and CEO, DangleAds, echoes the point with precision. “Verification tools protect the user and directly enhance the efficiency of the funnel. These newer formats are redefining how brands combine performance with perception. A branded call boosts pick-up rates and reinforces recall, making a brand feel like a trusted service rather than a random interruption.”
Narayan notes that in-app carousels, particularly in fintech, e-commerce and lifestyle apps, are emerging as quiet heroes of this new trust-first wave. “These formats foster micro-engagements that compound over time, helping brands build immediate conversions and long-term affinity. At their core, these formats are about authentically meeting the user on their terms. In digital noise, trust is the strongest conversion lever.”
That noise isn’t just clutter—it’s dangerous. Fraud, phishing, and impersonation scams have pushed users to adopt a default posture of suspicion. This is where verified messaging becomes more than a campaign tool; it’s a credibility passport. And that passport has very real implications for performance.
“Brands are increasingly leveraging identity verification tools to build trust and boost performance,” says Sunder Madakshira, Chief Marketing Officer at Sinch India. “From Branded Caller ID to Verified SMS to RCS Messaging and Email Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, BIMI), these tools authenticate domains and enable trusted logo display in inboxes.”
Madakshira isn’t just rattling off acronyms—he’s outlining a full-stack defence against digital skepticism. “This increases call answer rates by 30–50% and drives immediate user action. It builds instant recognition—critical in sensitive sectors like healthcare, BFSI, and logistics. And it reduces phishing and spoofing risks, enhancing the overall digital security posture.”
Sinch’s own RCS platform allows businesses to send interactive, brand-colored, logo-rich messages. Madakshira adds, “It’s clear that when consumers recognize and trust the source, they're more likely to engage, leading to better campaign performance and ROI.” What’s more, AI-driven personalisation layered over RCS now allows for contextual, real-time messaging. In other words: secure, smart, and actually relevant. Not a mass blast. A proper pitch.
Of course, all of this assumes you can even get users to read your message. And in today’s mobile ecosystem, the road to the inbox is paved with landmines—privacy policies, platform policies, and consumer apathy among them. That’s why recognition, not just reach, is the new battleground.
“Trust is now increasingly viewed as the new performance lever in mobile marketing,” says Vartika Verma, Senior Director – Global Marketing at Gupshup. “With consumers blocking unknown numbers or ignoring messages from unknown senders, the real challenge for brands is not just reach—it is recognition.” She calls WhatsApp’s green tick verification “the ultimate trust signal.” And she has a point. That small but powerful badge tells a user: this brand has been vetted by Meta, this account is legitimate, and this interaction is safe.
“At Gupshup, we actively encourage brands to get verified by Meta for easier customer recognition and enhanced user experience,” Verma says. But verification is only part of the equation. Format matters too. “RCS is reshaping the mobile messaging experience with a layer of richness and verification that consumers increasingly expect. And it works. Gupshup powers over 10 billion enterprise messages globally each month, with data showing that verified WhatsApp campaigns drive significantly higher open rates, engagement, and conversions.
In a fragmented ecosystem—WhatsApp, SMS, telco APIs, email, app notifications—the real magic lies in unification. “A verified call followed by an authenticated message, then a seamless in-app experience, creates a cohesive journey that feels intentional and secure,” Verma explains. “That kind of consistency is what earns attention and keeps it.”
It’s no longer enough for mobile ads to shout louder. Now, they have to show ID.
The transition to this ‘trust economy’ isn’t just about protecting the user. It’s about making the ad experience frictionless, familiar, and fundamentally credible. Whether it's a green tick, a verified logo, or a contextual carousel—it all adds up to a brand saying: “I’m not here to scam you. I’m here to serve you.”
Because in a world flooded with half-baked performance marketing and shady outreach tactics, the real differentiator isn’t how many people you can reach. It’s how many trust you enough to respond.
And that might just be the quietest revolution Indian mobile advertising has ever seen.
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