Ads in Gmail

Google is currently rolling out a new version of Gmail for Android, claiming that it’s all about aesthetic improvements and minor interface tweaks. But Android Police dove into the code and found several references to ads, which until now have only been found on the desktop version of Gmail. It’s unclear what the ads would look like, or when they would actually show up, though the code does hint at a way for users to save ads they like as messages within their inboxes. I am not quite sure what the application developers were thinking at the time because having ads is obnoxious to begin with. Having them while you are trying to read through emails is just downright frustrating. The idea that Google would try to make money from Gmail’s mobile apps isn’t surprising, but with limited screen real estate, the risk of overly intrusive ads is higher. Hopefully Google can figure out how to implement ads without enraging its users.