Google Can Now Use Gmail and Photos Data for Ads: What Changed

By Jaspal Singh October 24, 2026 Updated: October 24, 2026

Google's privacy policy, effective October 16, 2026, now says your Gmail, Drive and Google Photos content can shape the ads you see if you connect those apps to another Google service that supports personalized ads, such as Search through Personal Intelligence. If you never connect them, the old promise still holds: no ads based on that content.

What Happened

On October 16, 2026, Google published a new version of its privacy policy. Most of the edits were small, but one line had been a fixed point in Google's advertising story for almost a decade. The previous version said, flatly, that Google does not show personalized ads based on your content from Drive, Gmail or Photos. The new version keeps that sentence and adds a condition: Google won't do it "unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads."

Google's own comparison of the old and new policy text marks every change. Besides that exception, it shows three other edits. A new paragraph says you may let services such as Search or the Gemini apps access data from Google Photos and from Workspace apps like Gmail and Drive, and that "Search may process some of the data that you allow Search to access to personalize content, including ads." The line describing what personalized ads are based on changed from your "interests and activity across Google services" to your "interests, activity, or personalized content from Google services." And a new definition names Personal Intelligence as an example, using a hotel booking in an email that Search draws on to suggest things to do nearby.

The change drew little notice for a week. On October 23, Android Authority reported it, and The Verge, Ars Technica, 9to5Google and How-To Geek followed the same day. Techlicious had flagged the update on October 19.

Google has not announced the change in a blog post. Its help page for Personal Intelligence in Search now says ads "will not be based directly" on your Gmail inbox or Photos library, but that Search may draw on summaries, excerpts and inferences from that content, and "that same info may be used to show you ads." Fast Company, reporting before the redline drew attention, quoted Google spokesperson Allie Bodack saying that using Personal Intelligence to target ads elsewhere in Search is "not the case today," and Google told Search Engine Land that people who turn on Personal Intelligence currently won't see ads in AI Mode.

Why It Matters

The Gmail line carries history. Until 2017, free Gmail scanned the text of your messages to pick ads. Google ended that practice in June 2017, and the "not based on your content from Drive, Gmail, or Photos" wording became the plain-language guarantee that replaced it. For nine years, anyone asking whether Google reads their email to sell ads could be pointed to that sentence.

The new wording doesn't reverse the guarantee for everyone. It does make the guarantee conditional on a setting most people have never looked at. Personal Intelligence launched in beta in January 2026 and was opened free to all US users in March, across the Gemini app and AI Mode in Search, as we covered in Google's rollout of Personal Intelligence to every US user. Each person who connected Gmail or Photos to get better answers has, under the new text, also connected that content to a service that "supports personalized ads."

The commercial reason is easy to see. Alphabet earned 73% of its 2025 revenue from advertising, according to Fast Company's reporting. Forrester principal analyst Nikhil Lai told the outlet that email carries "high-intent signals" that are often more predictive than browsing.

Critics' main objection is about how the change arrived, not the opt-in itself. The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Lena Cohen told Fast Company it was "unacceptable that it takes a journalist asking the company" to find out how email data connects to ads. People who connected Gmail in January agreed to a feature that answers questions. The text that ties those answers to advertising came nine months later, in a policy update few people read.

How It Works

The mechanism matters, because "Google will target ads with your Gmail" overstates it, and "nothing has changed" understates it.

Step 1: You connect an app

Personal Intelligence is off until you act. In Search, you turn on Personalized Recommendations and then connect content apps. Today those are Google Workspace (Gmail, plus Google Calendar in the US in English) and Google Photos where it's available. Google's help page says connecting content apps is open only to personal accounts held by people 18 and over. The Gemini app has its own, similar connection flow.

Step 2: Search reads, summarizes and remembers

When you ask AI Mode something, it can pull the relevant email or photo, such as a restaurant booking or a receipt, and summarize it into the answer. Google's help page says those summaries, excerpts and inferences become part of your Search Services History. That history is the key detail. It's stored separately from Gmail, and Google says disconnecting an app or deleting the original email doesn't delete it. You have to clear it yourself at Google's My Activity page.

Step 3: The ad system can use what Search learned

The privacy policy now says Search may use the data you allowed it to access to personalize "content, including ads." In practice, the ad system isn't scanning your inbox. It's using what Search inferred from your inbox while it answered you, the same way it already uses your search history. If AI Mode learned from a booking email that you have a trip to Lisbon next month, that inference can sit beside your searches for "Lisbon restaurants" when Google picks ads. Google's ad systems already run on inferences like this from your activity, a model we described in our piece on how much Google's Workspace AI wants to know about your work.

What stays the same

Several limits in the policy didn't change. Google says it doesn't show personalized ads based on sensitive categories such as race, religion, sexual orientation or health. It says it doesn't share information that personally identifies you, such as your name or email address, with advertisers unless you ask. Advertisers don't get access to your inbox or photo library. They choose audiences, and Google decides who falls into them. And if you never connect Gmail, Drive or Photos to Search or Gemini, the exception doesn't apply to you.

How to turn it off

According to Google's help pages and Android Authority's walkthrough, open your Google Account, go to Data & privacy, then Personalization settings, and choose Manage Personalized Recommendations in Search Services. Under Additional Personal Intelligence, open Connected Content apps and disconnect Google Workspace and Google Photos. You can also turn off Personalized Recommendations entirely on the same page. Then go to Search Services History in My Activity and delete what's already there, because disconnecting doesn't remove it. Turning off personalized ads in My Ad Center limits ad targeting, but Techlicious notes it doesn't stop connected data from being used for AI answers or model improvement.

What's Still Unknown

Which services count. The policy says "other Google services that support personalized ads" but doesn't list them. Search is the only named example. Whether the Gemini app, YouTube or Discover recommendations can use the same inferences isn't stated.

When ads start. Google says Personal Intelligence users don't see AI Mode ads today and that using it to target ads elsewhere is "not the case today." The policy now permits both, and Google hasn't given a timeline.

Where it applies. The policy is global, but Personal Intelligence isn't available everywhere, and Google Photos connections aren't offered in every region. How the change works under the EU's stricter consent rules hasn't been explained.

How long inferences last. Google's help page doesn't give a retention period for Search Services History beyond your own auto-delete setting, so an inference drawn from an email you deleted can outlive it.

Whether existing users get asked again. People who connected Gmail before October 16 did so under the older wording. Google hasn't said whether it will notify them or ask them to confirm.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Google reading my Gmail to show me ads?

Not by default. Google's policy still says it doesn't personalize ads from Gmail, Drive or Photos content unless you connect those apps to a service that supports personalized ads, such as Search through Personal Intelligence. Even then, Google says ads aren't based directly on your inbox, but summaries and inferences Search draws from your emails while answering you may be used to choose ads.

When did Google's privacy policy change?

The new version took effect on October 16, 2026, replacing a version dated October 1, 2026. Google didn't announce the edit separately. Techlicious noted it on October 19, and Android Authority, The Verge, Ars Technica and 9to5Google reported on October 23 after reading Google's redline comparison, which marks the new Gmail and Photos exception as inserted text.

What is Google Personal Intelligence?

Personal Intelligence is a feature that lets the Gemini app and AI Mode in Google Search draw on your own data, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Photos and your search history, to give more specific answers. It launched in beta in January 2026 and opened free to all US users in March. You have to turn it on and connect apps yourself.

Does this change affect me if I never turned on Personal Intelligence?

Based on the policy text, no. The exception applies only if you choose to make Gmail, Drive or Photos data available to another Google service that supports personalized ads. If you never connected those apps to Search or Gemini, Google's older promise still applies. Your regular search and YouTube activity can already shape ads, as before.

How do I stop Gmail and Photos data from being used for ads?

Open your Google Account, go to Data & privacy, then Personalization settings, and select Manage Personalized Recommendations in Search Services. Disconnect Google Workspace and Google Photos under Connected Content apps, or turn off Personalized Recommendations. Then delete your Search Services History in My Activity, because disconnecting an app doesn't erase what Search already saved.

Can advertisers see my emails or photos?

No. Google says advertisers don't get access to your Gmail inbox or Google Photos library, and its policy says it doesn't share personally identifying information like your name or email address with advertisers unless you ask. Advertisers choose audiences, and Google decides which people fall into them, using inferences that now may include ones drawn from connected content.

Does Google still avoid sensitive categories in ads?

Yes. The updated policy keeps the line saying Google doesn't show personalized ads based on sensitive categories such as race, religion, sexual orientation or health. That limit applies to connected Gmail and Photos content too. Google's help page for Personal Intelligence repeats it, though it doesn't explain how inferences from emails are screened for those categories.

Is Google showing ads in AI Mode to Personal Intelligence users now?

Google told Search Engine Land that people who have enabled Personal Intelligence currently don't see ads in AI Mode, and a spokesperson told Fast Company that using it to target ads elsewhere is "not the case today." The policy now allows it, though, and Google hasn't said when, or whether, that will change.