What Gmail’s Changes Mean to You: Not Much, Yet

Author:

Ken Magill

Source:

Google raised a ruckus among email marketers last week with an announcement that it had made some changes to the way Gmail users could manage their inboxes.
 
But while the changes to Gmail are certainly part of a larger trend prodding email marketers to segment their files and send more engaging, relevant messages, the development in and of itself is not a game changer.
 
Dubbed Priorty Inbox, the initiative divides Gmail users’ inboxes into three sections: “important and unread,” “starred” and “everything else.”
 
As messages arrive, Gmail automatically flags some of them as important using various criteria, such as people the user emails most and which messages they open and reply to.
 
However, it’s important to note that Google has yet to promote Priority Inbox other than through a blog post and a red “New! Priority Inbox” link in the top right corner of Gmail users’ inboxes.
 
And in order to take advantage of the service, Gmail users must turn it on.
 
According to various inbox-provider representatives, fewer than 10 percent of people ever make changes to their email settings...
 
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