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Technology · North America

Google opens a policy exception for connected data in ad personalization

Google revised its privacy policy to allow data from Gmail, Drive and Photos to be used by other Google services that support personalized ads when users make that data available. The change concerns people using opt-in personalized AI features, while Google says ads are not based directly on Gmail inboxes or Photos libraries.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 6 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 4 of 6 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 6 entries
6 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Center OnlyL 0 · C 5 · R 0 · 1 unrated
Updat3 graphic: Google
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What happened

Key facts

  • The revised policy was updated on October 16 (per Ars Technica, The Verge, dexerto.com).
  • The earlier policy said personalized ads were not based on content from Drive, Gmail or Photos (per Ars Technica, The Verge, 9to5google.com).
  • Personal Intelligence is an opt-in feature that connects users’ data from multiple apps to Google AI products, including Gemini and AI Mode (per Ars Technica, The Verge, 9to5google.com).
  • Personal Intelligence data could inform AI Mode answers, and AI search tools may display sponsored content (per Ars Technica, 9to5google.com).
  • The policy change could allow Gmail and Google Photos data to inform targeted or personalized advertising when users make that data available to other Google services (per Ars Technica, The Verge, 9to5google.com).
  • Google said ads would relate to a user’s query, response context and interests, and would not be based directly on Gmail inboxes or Photos libraries (per Ars Technica, The Verge, 9to5google.com).
  • 9to5Google said disabling Personal Intelligence would not let users opt out of the potential ad targeting described in its report (per 9to5google.com, Ars Technica, The Verge).
  • 9to5Google said Google’s statement that advertisers would not receive personally identifying details such as users’ names and email addresses without permission remained unchanged (per 9to5google.com, Ars Technica, The Verge).

The brief

Google has changed its privacy policy to permit data from services such as Gmail, Drive and Photos to be made available to other Google services that support personalized advertising.

The revised language qualifies an earlier assurance that ads were not personalized using content from those services, and leaves open the possibility that connected personal data could shape advertising. The policy was updated on October 16.

Its new exception applies when users choose to make data from one Google service available to another service that supports personalized ads.

The Verge quoted the policy as saying users may allow services such as Search or Gemini Apps to access information from Google Photos and Workspace apps, including Gmail and Drive, to provide a more personalized experience, subject to the receiving service’s policies and settings.

Google’s Personal Intelligence feature provides a route for that connection: users can opt in to link data across apps with Google AI products, including Gemini and AI Mode. Ars Technica reported that Personal Intelligence data could inform AI Mode answers; AI search tools may also display sponsored content.

Together, those features explain how information shared for personalized AI could also become relevant to ads, though the sources describe that outcome as possible rather than certain. Google said ads would be tied to a user’s query, the context of an answer and the user’s interests. It also said advertisements would not be based directly on Gmail inboxes or Photos libraries.

That assurance narrows the company’s description of the change, while the revised policy’s exception permits connected data to reach services that support personalized ads. The outlets emphasize different parts of the change. The Verge and Dexerto focus on the new exception and the prospect of Gmail or Photos data informing targeted ads.

Ars Technica foregrounds the interaction between Personal Intelligence, AI Mode and sponsored content, alongside Google’s distinction between direct use of inbox or photo-library content and ad personalization based on other context. 9to5Google adds that, in its view, turning off Personal Intelligence would not itself let users opt out of the potential targeting.

9to5Google also reported that Google’s existing language on advertisers’ access to identifying details had not changed: it said advertisers would not receive details such as a user’s name or email address without permission.

The reporting therefore describes two separate questions: whether connected service data can inform ad personalization, and whether advertisers receive identifying information. The policy change concerns the former; the cited account says the restriction on sharing identifying details remains in place.

Why it matters

  • Gmail, Photos and Drive users who connect their data to Google services that support personalized ads could have that information inform ad targeting, changing the practical boundary of Google’s earlier policy assurance.
  • People using Personal Intelligence may share data across apps for AI features; that same connection could also affect AI Mode answers and, where sponsored content appears, the advertising context.
  • Google says ads are not based directly on Gmail inboxes or Photos libraries, while 9to5Google says advertisers still do not receive identifying details such as names or email addresses without permission. Those are distinct safeguards and do not erase the policy’s new exception.

What to watch next

  • Whether Google clarifies how data made available through Personal Intelligence can inform personalized ads.
  • Whether Google explains how the revised policy applies to Search and Gemini Apps accessing Gmail, Drive or Photos data.
  • Whether Google provides further detail on how ad personalization relates to its statement that ads are not based directly on Gmail inboxes or Photos libraries.
  • Whether Google clarifies the opt-out options, given 9to5Google’s report that disabling Personal Intelligence would not itself opt users out of the potential targeting.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
6 source articles · 6 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Center Only· 5 Center · 1 unrated
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 50% · Unknown 33% · Other 17%
Outlet political mix
Center Only
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
5 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 1 unrated outlet is not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
6 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (5 of 5 rated sources); comparatively few Left or Right-rated outlets have published on the event.
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

3 framing differences · 2 uncorroborated claims · 1 information gap
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 4 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 2 other outlets were checked by headline only.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • The Verge and Dexerto emphasize the policy exception and potential targeting using Gmail and Photos data; Ars Technica connects the change to Personal Intelligence, AI Mode answers and sponsored content.
  • Google’s statement, as reported by Ars Technica, distinguishes ads based directly on inboxes or photo libraries from ads related to queries, answer context and interests; 9to5Google emphasizes the possibility of targeting despite that distinction.
  • The sources describe potential use of connected data for ad targeting but do not establish how often it occurs or which specific users’ data has informed ads.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • Google said ads would not be based directly on Gmail inboxes or Photos libraries.
  • 9to5Google said users could not opt out of the described potential ad targeting simply by disabling Personal Intelligence.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The sources do not quantify how many users have enabled Personal Intelligence or how many ads, if any, have been personalized using connected Gmail, Drive or Photos data.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Google’s advertising model also predates both services: in 2000, it launched AdWords, later renamed Google Ads, which let advertisers target people searching for particular terms.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. Google launched Gmail with advertisements related to the content of users’ messages.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. Google launched Google Photos.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  4. Google said it would stop scanning consumer Gmail messages to personalize ads.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. Google announced Gemini, a multimodal model designed to work across text, images and other inputs.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. Google introduced an AI-powered Gmail inbox that analyzes messages to surface information, reminders and upcoming tasks.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3

How we got here

Google’s earlier privacy policy explicitly said personalized ads were not based on content in Drive, Gmail or Photos, a distinction that had been in place before the policy revision reported today.

In June 2017, Google said it would stop scanning Gmail messages to personalize ads, bringing consumer Gmail in line with its business email service; it said ads would instead rely on other information, such as users’ settings and activity. The services covered by that distinction developed over time: Google launched Gmail in April 2004 and Google Photos in May 2015.

Original sources

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