{"id":10812,"date":"2026-02-23T18:42:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/?p=10812"},"modified":"2026-02-23T18:42:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:42:02","slug":"email-retention-after-gmails-manage-subscriptions-rollout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/?p=10812","title":{"rendered":"Email retention after Gmail\u2019s \u2018Manage Subscriptions\u2019 rollout"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Email<\/div>\n

When Gmail rolled out a new \u201cManage Subscriptions<\/a>\u201d feature last summer, we knew it would make an impact, particularly for brands that didn\u2019t lean into segmentation and automated journeys and instead peppered users with frequent messaging that lacked personalization.<\/p>\n

Six months in, the impact is deeper than we expected. Unsubscribe rates are up an average of 50%-150% across our portfolio accounts, though we\u2019re seeing trends and silver linings that make us optimistic about healthy email performance going forward. Let\u2019s start with what we\u2019ve seen in client accounts.<\/p>\n

How the impact of Manage Subscriptions has unfolded<\/h2>\n

\u201cDeclutter your inbox with Gmail\u2019s newest feature\u201d was the subject of a July 8, 2025, blog post from Google introducing Manage Subscriptions<\/a>. We anticipated a spike in unsubscribes during the initial rollout, followed by a decline as users moved on and forgot about the functionality.<\/p>\n

In our client accounts, we saw a significant spike in email unsubscribes across industries beginning in July, peaking in August. The unsubscribe rate has since subsided, but client rates remain elevated compared to pre-launch levels.<\/p>\n

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\"Average<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Despite the upbeat tone of Google\u2019s announcement, the feature was rolled out quietly and users weren\u2019t prompted to use it, so we didn\u2019t expect widespread adoption beyond an early surge.<\/p>\n

Gmail also intermittently promotes one-click unsubscribes in the Promotions tab, so this didn\u2019t initially appear likely to drive a significant spike. The difference now is scale, as Manage Subscriptions centralizes the experience in a way previous prompts did not.<\/p>\n

How to mitigate the effects of Manage Subscriptions<\/h2>\n

Our advice from the start \u2014 and we\u2019re seeing it pay dividends in slowing unsubscribe rates for both new and longtime clients since the feature launched \u2014 has been to:<\/p>\n