How does the Gmail promotions tab affect email open rates and pixel loading?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 30 Jul 2025
Updated 16 Aug 2025
7 min read
Gmail's tabbed inbox, featuring the Primary, Social, and Promotions tabs, was introduced to help users manage their email more effectively. For email marketers, this segmentation immediately raised questions about the impact on campaign performance, especially concerning open rates and the reliability of tracking pixels. Understanding how these tabs function is essential for navigating the complexities of email deliverability and ensuring your messages connect with your audience.
The Promotions tab, in particular, is designed for marketing emails, newsletters, and promotional offers. While some fear that landing here means messages are less likely to be seen, the reality is more nuanced. This tab often provides a dedicated space where users expect to find deals and updates, potentially leading to a more engaged audience for certain types of content.
Understanding Gmail's tab system
Gmail's categorization algorithms are sophisticated, using various signals to determine where an email should land. These signals include sender reputation, email content (keywords, images, links), formatting, and user engagement. For instance, emails that resemble transactional messages, like receipts or password resets, are more likely to land in the Primary tab, whereas newsletters with heavy imagery or promotional language often end up in the Promotions tab. The system constantly learns from user behavior, adapting its filtering over time.
While you might wonder if you can avoid the Promotions tab entirely, the consensus among deliverability experts is that trying to force marketing emails into the Primary tab can be counterproductive and even harm your sender reputation. It is usually more effective to optimize for the tab you are likely to land in. You can learn more about whether to send promotional emails to Gmail's tabs.
Gmail's classification is not arbitrary; it aims to improve the user experience. By delivering emails to the expected tab, Gmail helps users find the content they want without feeling overwhelmed by marketing messages in their main inbox. This means that an email in the Promotions tab is often exactly where a user anticipates finding it, which can be a positive for engagement if your content aligns with that expectation. Understanding how Gmail decides placement is key.
The impact on email open rates
The belief that emails in the Gmail Promotions tab inherently suffer from lower open rates is a common concern among marketers. While some studies have shown a slight decrease, it is not always a universal truth. User behavior plays a significant role, as many users regularly check their Promotions tab specifically for deals and newsletters. For these subscribers, receiving your email in this tab is not a barrier, but rather a convenient categorization.
It has been observed that some industries might even see higher open rates in the Promotions tab, while others experience a slight decline overall, according to ActiveCampaign's analysis. The key differentiator is often the expectation of the recipient. If your subscribers explicitly signed up for promotional content, they are likely to seek it out regardless of the tab.
Instead of obsessing over tab placement for open rates, focus on optimizing your email content itself. A compelling subject line, a strong preheader, and relevant content can significantly boost engagement, no matter the tab. For more on improving your overall rates, check out our guide on how to improve low Gmail email open rates.
Primary tab
Expectation: Users expect personal, transactional, or important messages.
Content: Typically less promotional, often plain-text or minimalist HTML.
Engagement: Higher perceived urgency, potentially leading to immediate opens.
Promotions tab
Expectation: Users anticipate marketing offers, newsletters, and deals.
Content: Often visually rich, with images and calls to action.
Engagement: Opens may occur during dedicated browsing of promotions, rather than immediately.
Pixel loading and open rate accuracy
Email open rates are traditionally tracked using a tiny, invisible 1x1 pixel image, often called a tracking pixel, embedded in the email. When an email client loads this image, it registers an email open. However, Gmail, like many other email clients, employs image caching and proxying to protect user privacy and optimize loading times. This means that when an email arrives in a Gmail inbox, the images (including the tracking pixel) are often downloaded and cached on Google's servers before the user even opens the email. This can significantly skew reported open rates.
The issue of pixel loading can be particularly pronounced in the Promotions tab. While a precise difference in pixel loading between the Primary and Promotions tab isn't always publicly detailed by Gmail, some deliverability experts have observed that emails landing in the Promotions tab might sometimes exhibit lower pixel load rates or less reliable tracking, as indicated by discussions among email professionals. This implies that if your email is categorized as promotional, Gmail's internal processing might handle image rendering slightly differently, impacting the accuracy of open rate metrics.
The problem is not that the emails aren't reaching the inbox (deliverability is usually not the problem here), but rather that the tracking of actual opens becomes less reliable. This is why relying solely on open rates can be misleading, especially with Gmail's caching mechanisms. We dive deeper into this topic in our article, Do email tracking pixels affect deliverability?
Rethinking open rates
Given Gmail's image caching, the traditional open rate metric is becoming less accurate for measuring true engagement. Instead of focusing solely on opens, prioritize other metrics that indicate active recipient interest.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): Measures how many recipients clicked on a link in your email. This is a strong indicator of engagement, as it requires active participation beyond just viewing the email. Learn more about how to increase email click through rate.
Conversions: The ultimate measure of campaign success, tracking actions like purchases, sign-ups, or downloads.
Reply Rates: For specific campaigns, a high reply rate indicates strong engagement and interest.
Optimizing for the promotions tab
Optimizing for the Promotions tab doesn't mean giving up on engagement. In fact, it means tailoring your strategy to leverage the tab's purpose. Ensure your email design is visually appealing, as recipients in this tab often browse through visually rich content. Use clear, concise copy, and strong calls to action. A captivating image preview can significantly enhance your chances of an open, as noted by BizBudding.
Focus on deliverability fundamentals. Maintain a healthy sender reputation, ensure your email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is correctly configured, and avoid tactics that could trigger spam filters or blocklists (also known as blacklists). Even if an email lands in the Promotions tab, a good sender reputation ensures it gets there reliably. Incorrect authentication, especially regarding SPF and shared IPs, can negatively affect your email deliverability, as discussed in our blog, Why your emails fail.
Ultimately, the Promotions tab is not a graveyard for emails but a distinct channel. By acknowledging its purpose and adapting your email strategy accordingly, you can still achieve strong engagement and drive results. Embrace the segmentation, and focus on delivering value in the context of the Promotions tab, rather than fighting against it. You can review our article on how to avoid the Promotions tab for more specific advice.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Always maintain good list hygiene and sender reputation to improve overall deliverability and placement.
Common pitfalls
Obsessing over getting into the Primary tab for marketing emails, potentially damaging sender reputation.
Expert tips
Monitor secondary metrics like click-through rates and conversions for a more accurate picture of engagement.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that if mail is making it to the inbox, it is not a deliverability problem. Fluctuations in open rates might be due to mail sometimes going to the promotions tab and other times to the primary inbox.
2022-06-27 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that many companies observe lower pixel loads when their mail lands in the promotions tab.
2022-06-27 - Email Geeks
Embracing Gmail's Promotions tab
The Gmail Promotions tab is a significant feature that impacts how email marketers approach their campaigns. While it can lead to different open rate behaviors and influence the reliability of pixel loading due to Gmail's caching practices, it is not necessarily a negative outcome. Instead, it encourages a more thoughtful approach to email strategy.
By understanding Gmail's categorization, focusing on a strong sender reputation, and optimizing content for the environment of the Promotions tab, you can still achieve strong engagement metrics beyond just the open rate. Ultimately, success lies in adapting to user expectations within the Gmail ecosystem.
Gmail's categorization algorithms are sophisticated, using various signals to determine where an email should land. These signals include sender reputation, email content (keywords, images, links), formatting, and user engagement. For instance, emails that resemble transactional messages, like receipts or password resets, are more likely to land in the Primary tab, whereas newsletters with heavy imagery or promotional language often end up in the Promotions tab. The system constantly learns from user behavior, adapting its filtering over time.
