How do Gmail’s Promotions, Updates, and Social tabs differ?

Gmail's Promotions, Updates, and Social tabs serve different organizational purposes. Promotions captures marketing and sales emails: newsletters, discount offers, promotional campaigns, and commercial content from brands.

Updates holds transactional and informational messages: order confirmations, shipping notifications, account statements, and receipts. These are expected communications tied to user actions rather than marketing outreach.

Social collects notifications from social networks: Facebook alerts, LinkedIn messages, Twitter notifications, and similar platform communications. The distinction helps users find relevant messages quickly. For email marketers, understanding these categories helps set realistic expectations. Marketing emails belong in Promotions, and that is normal Gmail behavior rather than a deliverability problem.