<p>Google's Gmail Tabs has caused an uproar since it began a phased rollout in July. The new format segregates mail into types, including a "Promotional" queue that houses commercial appeals. Epsilon SVP and email authority Quinn Jalli, for one, sees nothing but trouble for marketers in being exiled to an e-com gulag. "This is not going to be a good thing," he says. "We've seen enough tests of this to not have to look too hard at the crystal ball."</p><p>Other email solutions providers take a brighter view of the development, their spirits perhaps buoyed by a study from Return Path chronicling Tabs' first week. It found that highly engaged (with marketers' emails, that is) consumers actually read more emails after the Tabs transformation than before, if only by a little: 59.88% from 58.64%. "For users with histories of high engagement with email marketing," Return Path's report says, "Gmail's Tabs feature made it easier to do something they like doing: shop."</p><p>This impression rings true with Gmail Tabs' glass-half-full crowd of email marketers, like Listrak CEO Ross Kramer. "For Gmail users who are the most engaged, engagement is actually increasing," he says, "because, when it's time for them to shop, Gmail has put all the promotional messages in a separate area."</p><p>Making marketers better</p><p><a href="http://www.dmnews.com/gmail-tabs-for-better-or-for-worse/article/315687/">Keep reading...</a></p>