Google says Gmail and Photos may feed ad personalization

Google updated its privacy policy to say content in Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos can be processed for personalized advertising when users allow those services to be accessed by Search, AI Mode or Gemini Apps via Personal Intelligence.

Previously Google explicitly stated it would not use Drive, Gmail or Photos content to show personalized ads. The new policy adds an important exception and ties the prior prohibition to user choices and account settings.

Under the revised text, Google says content in those services will not be used for personalized ads unless a user permits their data to be made available to other services that support personalized advertising. Consent to receive better AI responses may be interpreted as permission to process the same information for ads.

Personal Intelligence allows users to connect Search, AI Mode or Gemini Apps to data stored in Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos. Google says the feature is intended to produce responses and recommendations that better reflect an individual user’s situation.

As an example, Google says Search can extract hotel reservation details from an email and suggest activities near the booked location.

The new policy says a receiving service may process allowed data to personalize content, including ads. The practical boundary between smart suggestions and ad targeting is therefore no longer determined solely by where the information is stored.

The change does not automatically affect all Gmail or Photos users. It applies when a user makes data from one of those services available to Search or similar tools via Personal Intelligence. The types of data usable and how Google processes them remain subject to the recipient service’s policies and settings.

Google says advertisers will not get direct access to emails, Drive files, Photos or identity details such as name and email address.

Google describes the mechanism as internal processing to choose ads rather than delivering private content to brands or ad agencies.

Google also said it will not personalize ads based on sensitive categories such as race, religion, sexual orientation or health. Still, interests, activities and personalized content derived from Google services can influence ad selection depending on account settings.

Google’s example underscores the change: a web search for "mountain bike" can lead to sports gear ads on YouTube. The new policy allows signals from content users make available to Search or Gemini Apps to feed ad selection.

The exact data types and processing methods that may be used for ad personalization will follow the receiving service’s policies and the user’s account settings.