Google may now use your Gmail and Photos data for ads, if you connect them to AI

For almost a decade, one of the clearest lines in Google's privacy policy was a short sentence about your most personal data: "We don't show you personalized ads based on your content from Drive, Gmail, or Photos." No conditions, no small print. Since 16 October 2026, that sentence has a second half.

The current version of the policy now reads: "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." The change was first spotted by Android Authority and then reported by The Verge, Ars Technica and 9to5Google on 23 October. I compared the archived version from 1 October with the current one on Google's own policy site, and the change is exactly as described.

The reason for the new exception has a name: Personal Intelligence, the feature that lets Gemini and AI Mode in Google Search read your email, photos and other app data to give you more tailored answers. On the same day the policy changed, Google also began testing ads inside AI Mode for people who have turned that feature on.

What exactly changed in the policy

The update touches three places in the policy, and it is worth reading them together, because each one on its own sounds harmless.

First, the section on personalized services gained a new paragraph. It says you "may choose to allow certain Google services, including services like Search or Gemini Apps, to access data from other Google services you use, such as Google Photos and Workspace apps like Gmail and Drive." It then adds: "For example, Search may process some of the data that you allow Search to access to personalize content, including ads." The words "including ads" are the important part.

Second, the sentence that describes which data drives ads was widened. The old version said Google may show you personalized ads "based on your interests and activity across Google services". The new version says "based on your interests, activity, or personalized content from Google services". Personalized content is a new category in that list.

Third, there is the exception quoted above, attached to the old promise about Drive, Gmail and Photos. A new glossary entry for "personalize content" also names Personal Intelligence directly and gives an example: if you ask Search about a hotel booking, Search may use booking details from an email to suggest things to do nearby.

Two promises stayed unchanged. Google still says it does not show personalized ads based on sensitive categories such as race, religion, sexual orientation or health, and it still says it does not share information that personally identifies you, like your name or email address, with advertisers unless you ask it to.

What Personal Intelligence is

Personal Intelligence is Google's name for connecting its AI products to the data you already keep with Google. It launched in the Gemini app on 14 January 2026 for paying AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers in the US. On 22 January it arrived in AI Mode in Search as a Labs experiment, again for paying subscribers. On 17 March Google expanded it to free users in the US across AI Mode, the Gemini app and Gemini in Chrome.

Once you connect Gmail, Google Photos or other apps, the AI can pull context from them. Google's own examples are practical: finding the brand of sneakers you bought last year, planning a family trip based on hotel confirmations in your inbox, or getting restaurant tips near a hotel you have booked. Google's Search help page also notes that connecting your content apps gives access to all Search services at once, including Search, AI Mode, Discover, Maps, Shopping, Flights, Hotels, Translate and News.

When Google introduced the feature in AI Mode, the experience was free of ads. That is what changed on 16 October. According to Search Engine Land, Google confirmed that it is now testing ads in AI Mode for users who connect their apps, and that the same insights from those apps may help personalize the ads.

What Google says

Google's position is that this is a clarification, not a new data grab. In a statement to Ars Technica, the company said: "Connecting your apps is entirely opt-in. Ads will continue to be relevant to things like your query, the context of the response and your interests. Ads will not be based directly on your Gmail inbox or Photos library, and as always, sensitive information will not be used to tailor ads."

A spokesperson also told Ars that the update does not change how Google handles data with its advertising partners. Google is not scanning your entire inbox to build an advertising profile, and it is not giving the data to third parties. Search Engine Land lists the same safeguards: opt in only, no direct targeting based on Gmail or Photos, no access for advertisers to connected apps, and no use of sensitive data.

So what is the difference between "based directly on your inbox" and what Google now allows? As far as the public description goes, AI Mode does not hand your raw emails to the ad system. Instead, Personal Intelligence produces insights and summaries from your connected apps to answer your questions, and those insights can then also be used to decide which ad you see. Ars Technica's Ryan Whitwam put it bluntly: if you pipe personal data into an AI search tool, the ads it shows you could be based on that information.

Why this matters more than it looks

At first glance, this is a narrow change. It only applies if you have connected your apps, and only to Google services that support personalized ads. But there are three reasons why I think it deserves attention.

The first is history. Google stopped using the content of consumer Gmail messages for ad personalization in 2017, after years of criticism about "reading" emails to target ads. Since then, the promise that Gmail, Drive and Photos stay outside the ad system has been one of the main reasons many people were comfortable keeping their entire digital life with Google. The new exception does not undo that promise for everyone, but it creates an official path from those apps to ads for the first time in years.

The second is how opt in actually works. Google is right that Personal Intelligence is optional. But as Ars Technica notes, Google uses invitations, prompts and pop ups to encourage people to turn it on, often without explaining every consequence. Many people agreed to connect their apps in January or March to get better answers, at a time when AI Mode had no ads and the privacy policy still contained the unconditional promise. The meaning of that earlier yes has now changed without a new yes.

The third is the business model of AI assistants. AI answers are expensive to produce, and companies are looking for ways to pay for them. OpenAI started showing ads in ChatGPT this year, and Google is now doing the same inside its AI search experience. The more an assistant knows about you, the more valuable its ad slots become. Personal Intelligence is, by design, the most detailed picture of a person that Google can assemble with consent. Using it for ads was always going to be tempting, and the policy now makes room for it.

What it means in practice

For most people outside the US, nothing changes right away. Personal Intelligence and the connected apps experience are still rolling out gradually, and Google says they may not be available in every country, territory or language. Workspace business, enterprise and education accounts are excluded entirely; the feature only works with personal Google accounts. The Gemini app itself also does not show ads at the moment, so the ad change concerns AI Mode and other Search services that already carry ads.

For people in the US who have connected Gmail, Photos or Drive to AI Mode, the practical effect is that the ads next to an AI answer may now reflect what the AI learned from those apps. If you ask AI Mode to help plan a trip and it pulls your flight and hotel confirmations from Gmail, the ads shown alongside the answer may be informed by that context, not only by the words you typed. Google says these ads stay away from sensitive topics, and advertisers cannot see your mail. Whether that feels acceptable is a personal decision, but it should be an informed one.

There is also a detail that is easy to miss. Android Authority points out that disconnecting an app does not necessarily delete information Google has already saved. Data stored in your Search Services History can remain even after you disconnect the app or delete the original email or photo. If you want a clean break, check that history as well.

How to switch it off

If you would rather keep your inbox and photo library out of the ad system, there are three levels of control, from narrow to broad.

• Gemini app: open Settings, tap Personal Intelligence, then Connected Apps, and disconnect Gmail, Google Photos and the other Workspace apps you do not want to share.
• Search services: in your Google Account, go to Data and privacy, then Personalization settings, then Manage Personalized Recommendations in Search Services. Under Connected Content Apps, disconnect Google Workspace and Google Photos. You can also turn Personalized Recommendations off completely on the Search Services Personalization page.
• All ads: in My Ad Center, you can turn personalized ads off altogether. You will still see ads, but they will be based on general context like your current search rather than your profile.

Keep in mind that the first two steps also make Personal Intelligence less useful, because the AI will no longer know about your bookings, purchases or photos. That is the trade off Google is now making explicit: the same data that makes the assistant smarter can also make the ads around it more targeted.

My take

I do not think Google is secretly reading everyone's inbox to sell sneakers. The change is limited to people who connected their apps, the sensitive category rules still apply, and advertisers do not get raw data. Google also deserves some credit for writing the exception into the policy instead of leaving it vague.

But the direction is clear. The wall between your private Google data and Google's ad business used to be absolute. Now it has a door, and the door opens through the AI features Google is pushing hardest. As assistants become more personal, the question is no longer only what an AI knows about you, but who else benefits from that knowledge. A good rule of thumb for every AI assistant, not only Google's: before you connect your email and photos, check whether the service shows ads, and read the part of the privacy policy that explains what feeds them. And when a policy changes after you already said yes, it is worth saying yes again on purpose, or not at all.

Sources

• Google: Privacy Policy, effective 16 October 2026, and the comparison of the 1 October and 16 October versions
• Android Authority: Google makes a privacy policy exception to use your Gmail and Photos data for ads (23 October 2026)
• The Verge: Now Google says it might use your Gmail and Google Photos data to target ads (23 October 2026)
• Ars Technica: Updated Google privacy policy says your Gmail might be used for advertising (23 October 2026)
• Search Engine Land: Google begins testing ads in AI Mode for users with Personal Intelligence enabled (16 October 2026)
• Google blog: Gemini introduces Personal Intelligence (14 January 2026), Personal Intelligence in AI Mode in Search (22 January 2026) and Bringing the power of Personal Intelligence to more people (17 March 2026)
• Google Search Help: Connect your Google content apps to Search services