When Gmail rolled out the new “Manage Subscriptions” feature last summer, we knew it would have an impact, especially for brands that didn’t rely on segmentation and automation and instead peppered users with tons of messages that lacked personalization.
In six months, the impact is deeper than we expected. Unsubscribe rates average 50%-150% across our portfolio accounts, although we see trends and silver linings that make us optimistic about healthy email performance going forward. Let’s start with what we see in client accounts.
How to unlock the impact of subscription management
“Divide your inbox with Gmail’s newest feature” was the headline of a July 8, 2025, blog post from Google introducing Manage Subscriptions. We expected an increase in unsubscribes during the initial rollout, followed by a decline as users moved on and forgot to activate.
In our client accounts, we have seen a significant increase in email unsubscribes across industries since July, peaking in August. The unsubscribe rate has decreased, but client ratings remain high compared to pre-implementation levels.
Despite the happy tone of Google’s announcement, the feature was released quietly and users were not told to use it, so we did not expect widespread acceptance after the early operation.
Gmail also occasionally promotes one-click unsubscribes in the Promotions tab, so this didn’t seem likely to cause a huge increase. The difference now is scale, as Manage Subscriptions centralizes the experience in a way that previous offerings never could.
How to minimize the effects of Subscription Management
Our advice from the start – and we’ve seen it pay dividends in lowering unsubscribe rates for both new and long-term clients since the feature was launched – has been:
- Use segmentation to deliver personalized messages.
- Monitor campaign frequency and be very careful not to over-send to the wrong subscriber segments, such as less engaged audiences.
- Continue to prioritize users who engage with your product and content.
- Meet subscribers where they are by investing in ongoing profiling and personalizing emails based on lifecycle stage.
- Leverage the power of action-initiated automated emails tied to user engagement so messages feel useful and relevant.
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What we see on the horizon
First, the relatively bad news: We expect more unsubscribe events around major shopping holidays like Labor Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and Christmas, when subscribers receive an influx of marketing emails from multiple brands. Be prepared with an effective strategy around those peak times, and ensure that retention goals reflect the reality of increased email fatigue.
Now for a more optimistic view: This change will push more email marketers to be more proactive about segmentation, frequency and automatic personalization, which is ultimately a good thing. On a intellectual level, unsubscribing is better than spamming complaints or repeatedly sending messages that users don’t want to hear from you. The overall health of the program should not decrease if you primarily discard less engaged subscribers.
Ultimately, while this feature may create short-term pressure on CRM numbers, it should validate and accelerate a strategic approach to email marketing.
