If you enjoy using Gmail because it’s ad-free, that might change soon. Google is planning to make Gmail’s “Promotions” tab more visual by adding shopping ads.
This means that apart from promotional emails, you could also start seeing product offers directly in your inbox.
What Will These New Ads Look Like?
According to reports, the new shopping ads in Gmail will be interactive. Each ad will show:
A product photo
The product name
Price
Rating
A clickable link
When a user clicks on the ad, it will expand to show more details such as:
Discounts and offers
Product reviews
A “Buy” button (CTA)
A direct link to the seller’s website
This shows that Gmail is being turned into more than just an email platform — it’s being designed to offer a shopping experience too.
How Do These Ads Work?
The first preview of this feature was shared in a LinkedIn video by Thomas Eccel, head of Google Ads at JvM Impact.
In the video, after some promotional emails, a colorful box appears — this is the new ad format.
On clicking it, the ad turns into a shopping listing, showing two or more products together to help users compare easily.
These ads will use product data from Google Merchant Center, where brands upload their product inventories. Gmail will then use this data to show relevant product ads.
If the testing goes well, Google may expand this feature to other apps like YouTube, Google Maps, and Google Discover in the future.
