14 DAY TRIAL // This is probably not going to end well, but Google has now started testing display ads in Gmail. Until now, only text ads were displayed in Gmail, though Google has been adding them to more places on the page. Still, text ads blended in with the text-heavy interface and the nature of most emails. Display ads are really going to stand out, which is good for advertisers, not so good for users.
Google has confirmed testing the new ad units but would not provide any other details. The ads were initially spotted by Search Engine Land.
"We’re always trying out new ad formats and placements in Gmail, and we recently started experimenting with image ads on messages with heavy image content," a Google spokesperson confirmed the test.
It's interesting to note that Google underlines that the display ads will only be shown along pages with "heavy image content." Plenty of newsletters, special offers and other commercial emails place an emphasis on rich graphics in email messages.
Display ads placed when viewing these emails would not stand out as much, in fact text ads will probably have a harder time grabbing users' attention in this context.
It's important that Google made this distinction and recognized that display ads would be too jarring against most email messages.
Even so, it's very likely that most people will find the new display ads annoying, if they were to be rolled out to everyone, at least until they get used to them.
Many users complained when the first text ads were introduced in Gmail, but it's not an issue for most people today. It's likely, if Google can find a balance, this will happen to display ads as well.
Google has been doubling down on display ads lately, the one area were it wasn't doing very well. And it seems to be paying off, Google expects to bring in $2 billion from display ads alone in a year at this point.