Google now making ads in Gmail look like emails

Google introduced a brand new inbox style for Gmail back in May that automatically sorts your mails into categories like discussions, updates, social etc. There’s yet another section called promotions that the company is now putting to better use by displaying ads within the section. The difference between normal advertisements on Gmail and these are that they look like normal emails, which could lead you into clicking on them.

The Internet giant has been displaying advertisements within Gmail inboxes for a long time now. These advertisements appear on the right-hand side of the page as well as on a distinct strip above the list of mails, but Google is attempting to display ads in a whole different way now.

Some users have started to notice that there are advertisements being displayed like emails within the promotions inbox, luring users into clicking on them. The only distinguishing marks of these ads are that they’re marked with a yellowish background and labeled “Ad”.

"These ads are part of the Promotions tab in the new inbox in Gmail," Google said in a statement. "If you disable the Promotions tab or prefer another inbox style, you will see the old style of ad that runs across the top or your inbox." You can disable the promotions tab by heading to the "configure Inbox" option from the Settings tab on the upper-right hand side of your inbox.

The company has also assured users that while these may look like emails, they are simply ads. Advertising partners do not have access to your email addresses or any other personal information, just like before. Essentially, only the display style of the advertisements by Google has changed into a more intrusive kind but they claim that your data is safe.