The following frequently asked questions address common questions from email marketers and developers.
Is there any cost associated with email annotations?
No, email messages in bundles and rich previews are for organic email, so they're free. The only paid way to have visibility in the consumer (free) version of Gmail continues to be Gmail Ads. Google Workspace Gmail is ad-free.
Does adding the annotation cause my email to go into a different tab?
The annotation has no effect on the Gmail tab classifier.
What if an annotated email lands in a tab other than the Promotions tab?
The feature displays only in the Promotions tab.
Does an email need to contain all these features?
No. All features are optional. To increase visibility of your email, use at least the single image preview.
Can I change the color of the deal badge?
No, the deal badge is green and you can't change the color. To create the best user experience for all, colors, sizes, and shapes of the deal badge aren't customizable. You can customize only the feature's content (see Best practices).
Is this feature only for discounts if my email isn't deal- or discount-based?
No, you can annotate any marketing email, and you can mix and match features. For example, if your email is not about a deal or a discount, but rather a product promotion, you can still use your product image to annotate your email.
Why do I see my email in a bundle if I haven't added an annotation?
Your email can still appear in a bundle without an annotation. Gmail recommends emails based on previous user engagement, regardless of whether annotations are present.
What is the scope of work? Must I manually add this to each email?
Email annotations are designed to scale: add them to your email templates or HTML and populate the fields the same way as the body of the email, such as with CRM merges.
Can I use dynamic scripts to populate the features?
Yes, you can populate features and fields the same way you populate the body of the email.
Do I put tracking code on the URLs?
The current annotation displays only images for an enriched preview that opens your email when clicked. Therefore, there are no trackable links to your landing page. However, you can place tracking pixels on the image.
If my email isn't in a bundle, do metrics decline because no one sees it?
No. Unbundled emails don't have degraded metrics compared to before the bundling feature was introduced. Users generally scroll to a specific date or last-read email.
Does Google block sensitive topics?
It's important to consider how displaying enriched previews, including images, to users with certain content categories impacts their overall experience.
An email classified as a sensitive interest category might not end up bundled; it might not show the single image preview in the enriched display. Examples of sensitive categories are adult content and debt collection.