Users of Gmail have been up in arms lately as they are now being bombarded with ads and sponsored content while they are going through their emails. What was once contained to their Promotions tab is now being interjected between their regular emails, making it difficult to differentiate ads from regular email conversations. This phenomenon has been occurring for both desktop and mobile platforms, with some users even reporting images accompanying these ads, taking up even more space on the screens of their smartphones.
Google has responded to the outcry from users, saying that the sudden increase in ads doesn’t “sound good” and that they should send in their feedbacks to the Gmail Help tool. It is possible that this could simply be an accident or a small glitch in Google Ads network, but it’s worth noting that Google does rely heavily on digital ads for generating revenue, with 80% of their income coming from ads, according to The Guardian.
One bad thing that could be a result of this is that, since users are getting bombarded with ads, they could become more likely to install an ad blocker, which would not be ideal for Google’s advertising system. TechRadar has recently updated their list of the best ad blockers of 2023, which users can take a look at if they do feel like they need extra protection.
Google has yet to provide an official statement on the issue, but they probably won’t be able to ignore the outcry from users for much longer. An article on this issue such as this one can provide some ramifications of what could result from this increase of ads, if Google decides to proceed with them being present in the user’s main email feed.
