Many Internet users have noticed that the number of advertisements has increased considerably on the interface of their Gmail mailbox. This invasion of advertisements would be deployed on the mobile version and desktop, which causes some annoyance among users. Is the dissatisfaction justified? Our independent and creative digital agency, a specialized and certified Google Partner, has been supporting advertisers for many years in the operation and optimization of ads in Gmail. Below are some answers:
The Ubiquity Of Advertising
Ads included in Gmail are nothing new. They have been appearing on mobile apps for a long time and on the PC version. But they have remained relatively discrete until now. Google thus contented itself with displaying these ads at the top of certain interface filters (“social” and “promotions’ ‘). Today, the web giant has decided to opt for a much more aggressive strategy for Gmail messaging, which has drawn strong criticism.
A few netizens have recently chosen to share screenshots of their email on Twitter to show how advertising has taken over Gmail. On the desktop version of messaging, advertisements are mixed with users’ emails, creating confusion and a lack of visibility (although the “Ad” icon, or “Advertisement” for the French interface, appears on promotional messages).
Difficulty Distinguishing Between Emails And Announcements
On the mobile app side, the situation looks the same, with towering ads appearing at the top of the inbox containing quite large images. Result: Some Gmail users had to scroll down the page to access their latest emails. Several Internet users have also noticed the appearance of advertisements within the “update” filter of Gmail messaging.
Ads displayed in the “notifications” menu pose several problems. Indeed, this section is usually reserved for Internet users’ rather “sensitive” information, such as invoices, order confirmations, etc. According to some users, it also seems impossible to change the location of ads to distinguish emails from promotional messages.
Also Read: Email Security: The Four Trends That Will Characterize 2023
The Arguments Put Forward By Google
It must be understood that the firm relies essentially on advertising to generate profits. In this way, it allows it to offer a certain number of services to its users free of charge. The firm recently explained the increase in advertisements in its messaging system. The company wants to experiment with “new formats” and find ways to help users “discover new companies.”
It also adds that the “promotions” tab contains promotional messages from companies to which Internet users subscribe. Added to this are offers from companies that may interest platform users. Instream ads appeared on smartphones in the year 2022 in the promotions tab. Their deployment on the desktop is quite recent.
The company wanted to reassure users about using their data, stating that it would never sell them for advertising purposes. Google also adds that ads are not activated for a workspace account. It is possible that Google will soon choose to increase the frequency of these advertisements in its messaging system and that this new practice will act as a “test” for the search engine. However, given the many criticisms of its users, the firm could backtrack.
Personalization Of Advertising Messages
The selection and display of advertisements in Gmail are automated. The nature of these ads depends on the online activity of the user logged in to Google. Fortunately, the company does not read messages from your inbox before displaying an ad. Of course, turning off the settings that use your personal information to display these personalized advertisements is possible.
Go to the “Ads settings” page and remove the personalization option from the latter. Of course, there will still be Gmail ads, but they will no longer be linked to the collection of your data collected on your Google account. As a reminder, Google had recently set up its certification system to block email scams.
Is It Possible To Remove Ads?
Fortunately, this proliferation of advertisements currently concerns only a tiny part of the users of the interface. If you are faced with this situation, know there are specific solutions to work around the problem. Unfortunately, it is not possible to remove these ads on smartphones. However, on a desktop, you can remove advertisements from your “promotions.” All you have to do is go to your browser’s Gmail interface.
Select the icon that looks like a cogwheel (at the top right of your screen). Then choose the “settings” menu and click “see all settings.” Browse the “Labels” tab and head to the “Categories” menu. It will then suffice to select “hide” for all these categories: notifications, forums, social networks, and promotions.
After this little manipulation, you should feel the difference by browsing the emails in your inbox. However, you may need help distinguishing spam from junk mail. You will nevertheless have the certainty of obtaining messaging without a profusion of advertisements. That said, Google will likely find a solution to circumvent this trick.
Also Read: Send Self-Destructing Messages With Gmail
