I seem to have missed the news last month that Google added a global spam filter to Google Voice but thanks to the well placed reminders in the app I discovered it today.

GVoice has had a spam capability for some time now and the way it works is really straightforward.  You can mark any call or SMS message as spam and future calls or texts will go in your spam filter. You can also go hardcore and block a number, in which case the caller hears a “not in service” message.

The new global spam capability goes a step further by taking the calls and texts marked as spam and collecting them in a global database, which the Voice service then uses as it’s own form of a Do Not Call list. Google is crowdsourcing their list through the everyday activity that their users are already doing.

In effect Google has done what the government has spent millions of taxpayer dollars doing ineffectively with the Do Not Call list.

[Cross-posted at Venture Chronicles]