Gmail testing giant, untargeted ads on sign in page

The unofficial Google Operating System blog reports Google is currently in the process of testing near half page ads on the Gmail sign in page. The charm of the normally inconspicuous ads we’re used to on Gmail is they are usually relevant to the content within our inbox. These new ads are far from unobtrusive and judging by the Vistaprint ad shown in the image, they dont appear to be relevant.

The report also notes Google has since removed mention of not displaying untargeted ads from their “Top 10 reasons to use Gmail” page. The page used to include the following:

“With Gmail, you’ll never see pop-ups or untargeted banner ads. Instead we display text ads and related links you might find useful and interesting.”

As of right now, those seeing the ad are reporting it only appears when logging out of Gmail. Google may have plans to make the experimental Gmail ad permanent, as a support document notes “occasionally we may show a banner ad on the Gmail logout page” similar to the ads appearing on the YouTube homepage. Let us know in the comments if you’re seeing the ad and how you feel about it.