Preference Center: Gmail makes it easy to unsubscribe

Apr 21, 2025

In early 2024, Gmail announced a new feature expected to appear soon in its users’ inboxes: the preference center. The preference center will allow Gmail users to manage all their mailing list subscriptions in one place. This feature will be accessible from the right-hand side panel. Recipients will be able to view all the newsletters they’re subscribed to and unsubscribe with a single click. This announcement is in line with Yahoogle’s latest requirements.
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Yahoogle is a neologism created to refer to the joint update from Yahoo! and Gmail in January 2024.
It aligns with senders’ desire for transparency toward their recipients in order to increase satisfaction.
  • What exactly is this type of preference center?
  • What are the consequences for senders?
  • How can you leverage this announcement to reduce your inactive subscribers?
Agathe, deliverability manager at Mindbaz, answers your questions.

How Will the Gmail Preference Center Work?

Email frequency as a filter in the preference center

The filters will rely, among other things, on the number of emails received per quarter.

    What will it look like in Gmail?
    At the moment, no official visuals have leaked, but we’ll update this article as soon as we know more.

    Specifically, Gmail will group senders into 3 tabs based on frequency settings.

    Once inside the preference center, users will be able to unsubscribe from lists if they feel they’re receiving too many messages, for example.

    This filter is adjusted based on what Gmail considers to be too many emails. This concept is referred to as excessive email pressure. It’s possible that the number of emails per sender will be updated over time.

    Sender name and domain: two likely criteria

    But email pressure won’t be the only criterion Gmail uses for its preference center. The email provider has hinted that other factors will be considered in sender filtering, including:  202408_sender_name_filter_criteria_gmail_preference_center_mindbaz_explanation 1. Sender name 2. Sending domain name   Make sure there’s consistency between the two. 📑 Summary sheet: Discover 5 actions to improve your sender reputation

    Gmail and Yahoo!: Provider filters heading in the same direction

    This new announcement might seem alarming in a global context marked by a tightening of filtering rules.

    Read more:

    Gmail and Yahoo! introduce new rules regarding email deliverability

    However, the impact of Gmail’s preference center on email senders should be put into perspective.

    In fact, Outlook and Yahoo! in the US have already implemented this functionality for several years.

    You can already preview the preference center on Yahoo’s side.

    In any case, don’t panic. When this feature rolled out with Microsoft and Yahoo! in North America, the actual impact was minor: the feared wave of unsubscribes never materialized.

    How to limit, or even benefit, from Gmail’s Preference Center announcement?

    What Gmail expects from senders is to follow best practices.

    Gmail wants its users to enjoy a pleasant user experience. To achieve this, the provider aims to deliver an inbox that feels personalized to each user.

    And to do that, filtering is based on user engagement. The email provider analyzes all interactions with the received messages.

    Sending emails to recipients who no longer open them is, in any case, damaging to your sender reputation.

    So let go of the recipients who are no longer interested in your content. Your engagement will increase as a result.

    2 Solutions to Minimize the Impact of Gmail’s Preference Center

    1. Create Your Own Preference Center

    Implementing a Preference Center helps prevent an increase in unsubscribes and improves the quality of your database. A custom preference center takes the form of a page with multiple options that you can tailor to your business and strategy. At Mindbaz, we recommend allowing your recipients to choose the type of messages, topics, and sending frequency.

    Message Type:

    • Marketing
    • Informational
    • Promotional

    Topics will depend on your industry. For example:

    • Fashion: shoes, women/men/kids, accessories…
    • Travel: warm destinations, Europe, adventure…
    • Real Estate: rentals, buying
    • etc.

    Sending Frequency:

    • Daily
    • Weekly
    • Monthly
    • Quarterly
    • etc.

    Keep in mind that receiving too many emails is the leading cause of unsubscribes.

    By creating your own preference center, you’ll actively reduce the number of inactive contacts. That’s another great way to improve your deliverability.

     

    Collection: the first step to reducing unsubscribes

    The second most common reason people unsubscribe from your emails is a lack of interest. This kind of unsubscribe can be reduced with effective data collection.

    Clarify your collection strategy: examples

    Clearly explain what subscribers will receive when collecting email addresses. To do so, skip vague wording and be specific: Instead of: ❌ Subscribe to our newsletter
    Say: ✅ Get one great deal each week

    Instead of: ❌ Subscribe
    Say: ✅ 5 tips on [topic] twice a month

    First emails: turning new subscribers into active contacts

    The welcome email
    Once your collection strategy is optimized, set up a welcome email. The welcome email introduces who you are and outlines the content your recipients can expect to receive.
    Keep the connection with a second email
    In a second email, highlight other relevant topics to catch your recipients’ attention while guiding them toward the preference center. This way, you give your subscribers full control to choose the content that suits them — a big win for your sender reputation!