Google has updated its privacy policy so that content held in Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos can now shape the ads the company serves. The change applies only to users who link those apps to Google's AI tools, and the new language took effect on Oct. 16. The upshot: whether private messages, files, and photos feed ad targeting is no longer governed by a blanket rule but by a per-user connection setting.

October 16 clause ends the flat Drive and Photos pledge

For years, Google stated that inbox messages, cloud files, and picture libraries would not be used to personalize advertising. That promise now carries a catch, and the revision was first observed on Oct. 23.

Google's privacy policy now states: "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 Oct. 1 version, which took effect two weeks earlier, ended that sentence at Photos without exception.

A ban on building ads from sensitive categories such as race, religion, sexual orientation, or health remains unaltered. The updated text also permits ads to draw on "personalized content from Google services," whereas the Oct. 1 wording cited only interests and activity across Google services.

Personal Intelligence is the switch behind the change

The pivot is tied to Personal Intelligence, a feature that allows AI Mode in Search and Gemini to draw on a user's connected apps to customize answers. Connected to Gmail, Search can surface a hotel booking and recommend nearby restaurants. The new language also allows that same linked data to drive the ads a person views.

Search Services History can keep data after apps disconnect

Google says it has set limits. By default, Gmail, Drive, and Photos content is not used to target ads, and advertisers never see what is inside those accounts. The company said it does not share names, email addresses, or other identifying information with advertisers without permission.

Users can opt out through Data & privacy in the Google Account. From Personalization & activity, Personalization settings lead to Manage Personalized Recommendations in Search Services. There, users can disconnect Google Workspace and Google Photos via the Connected Content apps menu in the Additional Personal Intelligence section, or turn off Personalized Recommendations entirely.

Disconnecting does not always erase what Google already holds, however. Information in Search Services History can remain even after an app is disconnected or the original email or picture is deleted. For anyone weighing the opt-out, the distinction matters: disconnecting ends the live link, while Search Services History can preserve a record of what was already accessed.

Advertising ties extend into AI answers

Google already permits advertisers to embed products within AI Mode answers, with Direct Offers attaching discounts to them Cryptopolitan says Gemini released Personal Intelligence in January as an optional tool for paid AI Pro and Ultra subscribers. Google had been criticized in November 2025 over claims that Gmail fed Gemini by default through Smart Features. By February, Google was testing Personal Intelligence for free users in AI Mode Search. The sequence — optional for paid tiers in January, tested for free users by February, and reflected in policy language effective mid-October — shows personal content moving into both Google's AI answers and its ad targeting.