Some potential customers are going to disappear from Gmail as Google updates its inactive account policy.  

“Starting later this year, if a Google Account has not been used or signed into for at least 2 years, we may delete the account and its contents – including content within Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar) and Google Photos,” Google states in a blog post.  

The reason: security. Google feels that if an account hasn’t been used for an extended period of time, it is more likely to be compromised. 

“This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, haven’t had two factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user,” Google writes.

Google’s internal analysis shows that “abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than active accounts to have 2-step-verification set up,” the blog continues. Once compromised, they can be used “for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam,” it adds. 

This may not have an immediate impact on email marketers. If a consumer has not signed into Gmail for two years, it is likely that the person is inactive in ecommerce accounts, too.  

However, they could be using another email service. 

Google points out that the policy “only applies to personal Google Accounts, and will not affect accounts for organizations like schools or businesses.” 

In any event, Google will not start deleting accounts until December 2023.

Consumers can maintain their accounts by taking one of these actions:

• Reading or sending an email
• Using Google Drive
• Watching a YouTube video
• Downloading an app on the Google Play Store
• Using Google Search
• Using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service.