Gmail Data Can Now Shape Google Ads

My Medium friends can read this over on Medium.

In July 2021, Google added one short sentence to its privacy policy: "We don't show you personalized ads based on your content from Drive, Gmail, or Photos."

Five years later, that sentence… has a new add-on. An important one!

Since October 16, it reads like this (emphasis mine):

"We don't show you personalized ads based on your content from Drive, Gmail, or Google Photos, unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads."

That's quite the "unless".

The changes

Google keeps every old version of the policy in an archive. Comparing the October versions, three changes are about ads.

The first is the sentence above.

The second is a new paragraph. Services "like Search or Gemini Apps" may access data from other Google services, "such as Google Photos and Workspace apps like Gmail and Drive." Right after that comes Google's own example: "Search may process some of the data that you allow Search to access to personalize content, including ads."

The third is smaller. Before, Google said it may show you personalized ads "based on your interests and activity across Google services." Now it's "your interests, activity, or personalized content from Google services."

None of this happens on its own, though. The policy names one feature for it.

Personal Intelligence

Personal Intelligence is Google's way of making its AI answers about you. Google brought it to AI Mode in Search in January, first for paying AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the US.

You connect Gmail, Google Photos, and other Google apps. Then Search or Gemini can use what's in there to answer you. Google's example in the policy is a hotel booking. You ask Search what to do near your hotel, and it pulls the booking details from your email.

Useful, in theory.

And it's opt-in. Google calls connecting Gmail and Photos "strictly opt-in," and you can disconnect at any time. The default didn't change. Google also says AI Mode "doesn't train directly on your Gmail inbox or Google Photos library."

So no, Google doesn't scan every email to sell you shoes. Not by default, at least.

Right now, Personal Intelligence is rolling out as a beta "to eligible users globally." For personal Google accounts, over 18. Not for Workspace business, enterprise, or education accounts.

Not in Europe

That "globally" has exceptions: the European Economic Area, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria.

I am in Germany. So for me, nothing changes right now. Google's page doesn't say why Europe is left out.

And I left Gmail for Apple Mail years ago anyway.

But many of you reading this are in the US. With a Gmail account. And maybe with Personal Intelligence switched on already.

There is always a catch

The yes you give is for better answers. You connect Gmail so Search can find your hotel booking.

The ads come with that same yes. As far as I know, there is no separate question for the ads part. If you allow Search to read your mail, Search "may process" it for ads, too.

And that sentence from 2021 was a promise. A short, clear one. It changed with a new date at the top of a long page most of us never read.

Google didn't hide it. The archive shows every version. But probably few people with a Gmail account will ever look at it.

Options

If you want your inbox out of your ads, there are two switches.

The first: don't connect your apps. In Search, it's under your profile, Search personalization, Connected Content Apps. In Gemini, it's in the personalization settings.

The second: turn off personalized ads altogether in My Ad Center. Then Google's ads are based on things like the website you're on or your location, not on you. That covers Google's partner sites too. Not other ad networks, though.

Or you leave. Apple Mail with Hide My Email, Proton, or Infomaniak's kSuite* if you want your mail in Europe.

The Bottom Line

For me, nothing changes right now. Not in Germany, and not with Apple Mail.

But the 2021 sentence had a period after "Photos."

Now it has a comma. And an "unless."

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