One Week After Policy Update, Gmail and Photos Data Can Now Inform Google Search Ads

Google’s Personal Intelligence feature, which began rolling out in beta earlier this year, now has a direct link to the ads users see in Search.

The company updated its privacy policy on October 16, a change that removes a previous restriction preventing personalized ads from being based on content in Gmail, Drive, and Photos.

Earlier policy language stated that these services were excluded from ad personalization. The new text adds a specific exception: the exclusion does not apply if a user chooses to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads.

This choice appears to be tied to enabling Personal Intelligence. The feature allows Gemini to draw on data shared across Google apps, including Search, Gmail, Photos, and Drive. According to the revised policy, users may allow services like Search to access data from Workspace apps and Photos in exchange for a more personalized experience.

The policy provides a concrete example of this mechanism. It notes that Search may process data a user permits it to access to personalize content, including the ads displayed. While Google has not stated it is handing over the full contents of inboxes or photo libraries to advertisers, the new language enables ad targeting based on that connected content.

The policy maintains its existing stance on identifying details. It still specifies that advertisers will not see personally identifying information, such as a user’s name or email address, without explicit permission. This language remains unchanged from previous versions of the document.

Personal Intelligence is currently an opt-in feature. Users can review their settings by navigating to the Data & privacy section of their My Account page. From there, they should select Personalization settings and then Manage Personalized Recommendations in Search services. A Turn off button on that page disables personalized recommendations entirely.