A short description of the issue:

When using a background image style in an email, Gmail is removing the entire style attribute, or style block.

This is working as expected in Chrome Version 114.0.5735.198 but seeing the issue in Version 117.0.5899.0 canary. Others have also reported seeing the issue in 115 and 116.

The issue happens with both background and background-image properties. However both are still supported when using gradients, this only appears to be affecting images.

A small code sample that reliably reproduces the issue. The sample should run as-is or with minimal setup, without external dependencies.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Document</title>
  <style>
    .image{
      background-image:url(https://placekitten.com/408/287); 
      height:200px;
      width:200px
    }
    .test{
      background:red;
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Testing background image</h1>
  <div style="background:url(https://placekitten.com/408/287); height:200px;width:200px">
    background image inline.
  </div>
  <div class="image">
    background image class.
  </div>
  <div class="test">
    this should have a simple red background
  </div>
</body>
</html>

What steps will reproduce the problem?

Include a background image inside the style attribute or embedded <style> sheet
Sent the email to a Gmail account.
View the email in the inbox.

What is the expected output? What do you see instead? If you see error messages, please provide them.

I would expect to see the background image still supported as it is elsewhere. If it's no longer supported I'd like to see the docs updated and I'd like it to just remove the image rather than removing all styles.

Please provide any additional information below.

Removing the entire style attribute or embedded <style> sheet is a common issue with Gmail when it encounters styles unsupported by Gmail.
Firefox 115.0.2 and Safari 16.5.1 don't show the issue
Android and iOS Gmail apps don't show the issue
Gmail docs say that background and background-image are supported https://developers.google.com/gmail/design/css#supported_css

Issue 291989158

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