Gmail shopping ads: A new sales channel for eCommerce brands

Google is testing a new ad format called Gmail shopping ads that brings an interactive shopping experience directly into the Gmail Promotions tab. Powered by Demand Gen campaigns and linked to Google Merchant Center, this feature allows brands to showcase a product catalog inside the user’s inbox. Instead of viewing a static promotional email, users can browse a product carousel complete with pricing, ratings, and promotional labels, all without leaving their Gmail inbox.

For eCommerce brands, this experiment opens a new opportunity to reach audiences in a different context, not while they are searching on Google, but when they are in a browsing mindset inside their inbox. With over 1.8 billion active users worldwide, Gmail offers a scale few platforms can match. If successful, the Promotions tab could evolve from a simple promotions folder into a strategic sales channel, competing directly with the rise of social commerce on TikTok Shop and Instagram Shopping.

What are Gmail shopping ads?

Gmail shopping ads are a new experimental format within the Gmail Promotions tab that transforms the inbox into a shoppable experience. These ads are delivered through Google’s Demand Gen campaigns, pulling real-time product data from a brand’s Google Merchant Center feed.

In their collapsed form, they appear similar to a promotional email, featuring a brand name, product image, and price. When clicked, the ad expands into a scrollable carousel of products, each with an image, title, price, average star rating, and promotional labels such as Free shipping. This design makes it possible for users to explore multiple products without leaving their inbox. Clicking on any product card then takes the user directly to the retailer’s site or product page.

Visually, Gmail shopping ads behave like a mini storefront inside Gmail. According to Search Engine Land, the goal is to blend a native email-like appearance with a rich shopping interface, making product discovery feel more natural in a space already associated with deals and offers.

Why Gmail?

With over 1.8 billion active users worldwide, Gmail is one of Google’s most valuable consumer touchpoints. For years, the Promotions tab has been home to marketing emails and discount newsletters, but rarely a place for direct, interactive shopping. By embedding shoppable carousels into that space, Google is turning Gmail into a high-visibility eCommerce channel.

This move is part of a broader strategy to expand Demand Gen ads across Google surfaces beyond Search, including YouTube, Discover, and now Gmail. The logic is simple: pair Google’s audience targeting signals with visually rich, product-centric ad formats in environments where users are already open to discovery.

Checking the Promotions tab often signals a “commercial mindset”, users are browsing for deals, offers, or product news. That makes Gmail uniquely positioned for top-of-funnel discovery that could lead directly to conversions. As TechRadar notes, these ads blend into Gmail’s native design, making them feel like a natural part of the inbox rather than an intrusive pop-up. For eCommerce brands, it’s a chance to capture attention in a space that’s both highly personal and inherently transactional.

How does the Gmail shopping ad format work?

The new Gmail shopping ads format is a visually rich, interactive ad unit designed to mimic a shopping experience directly within the Gmail interface. It appears in the Promotions tab and functions like a mini shopping catalog embedded inside the inbox.

When collapsed, the ad resembles a regular promotional email, displaying:

• A featured product image
• The brand name
• The product price

When expanded, it opens into a scrollable product carousel featuring:

• Multiple product images
• Product names and prices (with promotional strikethrough pricing where applicable)
• Average star ratings
• Promotional labels such as Free shipping

For example, in a test spotted by Search Engine Land and eCommerce North America, the brand Wybot Official appeared in a collapsed ad at €379.99 (reduced from €599.99). When clicked, the ad expanded to reveal multiple pool cleaner models, each with a rating and a “Free shipping” badge.

From a technical standpoint, this format leverages Google’s Demand Gen campaigns and integrates with a brand’s Google Merchant Center feed. This allows:

1. Automatic population of the ad creative using the product feed’s images, titles, prices, and other details.
2. A collapsed ad view designed to blend into the inbox.
3. An expanded, interactive gallery that users can browse without leaving Gmail.

Clicking on any product in the carousel sends users to the retailer’s website or product page to learn more or complete their purchase.

Since every Gmail shopping ad ultimately deposits shoppers on your product page, its payoff depends on how well that page converts, which is where our work as an ecommerce agency picks up.

See how Demand Gen product feeds work in practice:

Google’s strategy: Turning Gmail into an eCommerce channel

Google’s aim with Gmail shopping ads is to leverage the platform’s massive reach and transform the Promotions tab from a low-transaction space into an active product discovery and sales channel. With over 1.8 billion active users worldwide, Gmail is one of Google’s most valuable consumer properties.

Historically, the Promotions tab has been filled with marketing emails and special offers. By embedding shoppable carousels, Google is:

• Blending native advertising with commerce in a space where users are already browsing deals.
• Creating a new retail touchpoint directly inside an everyday communication tool.
• Tapping into users’ “commercial mindset” when they open the Promotions tab.

This move aligns with Google’s wider Demand Gen strategy, which expands rich, product-led ad formats across multiple Google surfaces such as YouTube, Discover, and now Gmail. The reasoning is straightforward:

This bold move is also a way for Google to defend against the rise of social commerce on platforms like TikTok Shop and Instagram Shopping by making Gmail a part of the purchase journey.

Benefits and opportunities for eCommerce brands

For online retailers, Gmail shopping ads open a fresh marketing channel that blends high reach with strong purchase intent. Key advantages include:

• Massive audience in a familiar environment
  With 1.8 billion active users, Gmail is the most widely used email service in the world. Showing up in the Promotions tab places your products where consumers are already looking for deals, increasing brand visibility in a high-traffic environment.
• Rich, product-centric display
  Each ad showcases multiple products complete with images, pricing, ratings, and promotional labels. This interactive tile format encourages browsing, much like an online storefront. According to Google, adding product feeds to Demand Gen campaigns can result in 33% more conversions at similar costs.
• Advanced audience targeting
  Since Gmail shopping ads run on Demand Gen campaigns, they benefit from Google’s audience intelligence, including user interests, past browsing behavior, and purchase intent signals. This increases the relevance of ads and the likelihood of engagement.
• Better conversion tracking and measurability
  Unlike standard promotional emails, Gmail shopping ads are part of the Google Ads ecosystem. This means merchants can measure ROAS, run A/B tests, and optimize bids just like in Search or Shopping campaigns.
• Native integration for a less disruptive experience
  The format is designed to blend into the Promotions tab, looking like part of the inbox rather than a jarring pop-up. TechRadar notes that this “native look” can make users more receptive to engaging with the ad.
• First-mover advantage
  Because the feature is still in beta, early adopters can secure prime inbox placement and collect learnings before the competition becomes fierce.

Challenges and considerations for brands

While Gmail shopping ads offer significant potential, eCommerce marketers should be aware of the following challenges before committing resources:

• User sentiment and inbox fatigue
  Gmail is a personal space, and excessive advertising, even in the Promotions tab, can lead to negative perceptions. TechRadar warns that flooding the tab with carousels of products could result in ad fatigue or even drive users away from checking promotions altogether.
• Creative quality requirements
  Standing out in a crowded Promotions tab demands high-quality creative assets: sharp product images, accurate pricing, and compelling offers. Google stresses that “inbox real estate is premium, only standout creatives will succeed in capturing attention.”
• Technical integration and feed accuracy
  Participation requires linking a Google Merchant Center product feed to Google Ads. All product data must be up-to-date and accurate; any mismatch between ad and landing page (e.g., price or stock) can harm trust and violate Google’s policies.
• Measuring incremental value
  Brands must determine if Gmail ads are driving new conversions or simply cannibalizing sales from other channels, such as organic email campaigns.
• Privacy and targeting considerations
  While Gmail no longer scans email content for ad targeting, it uses behavioral and interest-based signals. Advertisers must follow Google’s personalized ads policies to avoid disapprovals, especially for sensitive product categories.
• Increased competition in the inbox
  If Gmail’s Promotions tab becomes saturated with shoppable ads, organic brand emails may struggle to compete for attention. Marketers might need to adjust email strategy to remain visible.
• Limited availability and unproven at scale
  The format is still in beta, meaning not all advertisers or users can access it. Performance benchmarks are limited, so brands should approach with a testing mindset and allocate budgets cautiously.

Integration with Google Ads and product feeds

Gmail shopping ads are delivered through Google Ads’ Demand Gen campaigns, the successor to Discovery campaigns. Advertisers can no longer create Gmail-only campaigns; instead, they run Demand Gen campaigns that may serve across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail.

To make the Gmail format work, merchants must connect their Google Merchant Center product feed to their Demand Gen campaign. This allows Google to automatically populate the ad carousel with product images, titles, prices, and promotions from the feed.

Key setup steps:

1. Prepare your product feed in Merchant Center with accurate images, pricing, promotions, and stock data.
2. Link Merchant Center to Google Ads to enable feed-based ads.
3. Create a Demand Gen campaign in Google Ads and attach the product feed.
4. Add creative assets for the collapsed view, such as a marketing image or logo.
5. Set targeting and bidding strategies, Google recommends conversion value-based bidding (tROAS) for sales campaigns.
6. Run and monitor, Gmail placement will be served automatically to eligible users.

Optional features in beta:

• Full product details in ads, users can view extended information before clicking through.
• Local product availability, displays nearby stock data for eligible products.

UX insights and comparison to TikTok Shop & Instagram Shopping

User experience in Gmail Promotions tab

Gmail shopping ads turn the Promotions tab into a hybrid between an inbox and a shoppable feed. Instead of opening a static promotional email, users click an ad that expands into an interactive carousel of products. This design:

• Keeps users inside Gmail while browsing multiple items.
• Mimics the experience of scrolling an online store or shopping app.
• Feels native to the Promotions tab, which can make ads less intrusive.

Because they only appear in the Promotions tab, a space already dedicated to marketing content, users may be more open to engaging. However, Google will need to balance visibility with relevance to avoid the perception of clutter.

Comparison to TikTok Shop

TikTok Shop is a fully integrated social commerce solution where users can discover products in videos or livestreams and purchase them via native in-app checkout. Its strengths include:

• Frictionless in-app buying, no redirects to external websites.
• Content-driven discovery, purchases often happen in the moment due to influencer or viral content.

By contrast, Gmail shopping ads:

• Serve in a productivity-focused environment rather than an entertainment feed.
• Require users to click out to the retailer’s website to complete a purchase.
• Likely capture higher-intent users who are actively browsing promotions rather than passively consuming content.

Comparison to Instagram Shopping

Instagram Shopping lets brands tag products in posts, reels, and stories, with some regions supporting Instagram Checkout for in-app purchases. Benefits have included:

• Visual-first discovery through lifestyle imagery and influencer endorsements.
• Wishlist and product detail pages directly within the app.

Differences from Gmail shopping ads include:

• Instagram’s shopping features are embedded into a social content stream, while Gmail’s are inserted into a list of promotional emails.
• Instagram focuses on visual inspiration, whereas Gmail focuses on transactional offers.
• Gmail lacks the social proof element, no likes, comments, or community interaction.

Summary: Gmail’s shopping ads are more utilitarian than immersive, they present products in a straightforward way to users already primed for deals. TikTok and Instagram excel at creating desire through social content, but Gmail may win on targeting users with an immediate purchase intent.

Current status and availability of the experiment

As of August 2025, Gmail shopping ads are still in a limited experimental phase. Google has not announced a full rollout, and access is restricted to selected advertisers and regions.

According to Search Engine Land, the format was first spotted in early 2024 and has since appeared sporadically in user inboxes across certain markets. In one example shared by eCommerce North America, an Italian-language interface displayed the feature for brands like iRobot and Wybot, indicating regional test targeting.

Availability for advertisers

• Gmail shopping ads run exclusively through Demand Gen campaigns in Google Ads.
• Product feed support for Demand Gen began rolling out as a beta in early 2025, with access generally requiring a request through a Google Ads account representative.
• Having the product feed feature enabled does not guarantee Gmail placement, Google appears to be throttling impressions while testing performance and user engagement.

Availability for users

• Only a subset of Gmail users in the test group can see these shoppable ads in their Promotions tab.
• There is no opt-in option “ad visibility” is determined server-side by Google.
• Users outside the test group will see the standard Promotions tab layout, potentially with the older Gmail ad format.

Future rollout potential

Search Engine Land report that if testing meets performance goals, the format could expand across Gmail globally and possibly to other Demand Gen surfaces like YouTube and Discover. Google has a history of running extended A/B tests before mass adoption, so timelines remain uncertain.

For now, industry experts suggest that brands prepare their product feeds and creative assets early so they can test as soon as the format becomes widely available.

Positioning your brand for Google’s next ad wave

The Gmail shopping ads experiment is one of Google’s most ambitious steps toward merging inbox marketing with eCommerce. By leveraging Demand Gen campaigns and Google Merchant Center product feeds, this format transforms the Gmail Promotions tab into a visually engaging, high-intent shopping channel.

For merchants, the benefits are clear: massive reach, advanced audience targeting, and product-rich creatives that can drive measurable conversions. However, with the format still in beta, brands must weigh creative demands, technical requirements, and potential user sentiment before diving in.

If rolled out globally, Gmail could become a powerful complement to search ads, shopping campaigns, and social commerce strategies, especially for retailers seeking first-mover advantage in new ad placements.

Next steps for your brand:

• Audit your Google Merchant Center feed for accuracy and completeness.
• Prepare high-quality creative assets that stand out in a crowded inbox.
• Align Gmail shopping ads with your omnichannel ad strategy.

Flatline, as a performance-driven marketing partner, can help you plan, launch, and optimize Gmail shopping ads as soon as they’re available in your market. Discuss your demand generation strategy with our marketing experts today.