A revised privacy policy allows information shared with services such as Search and Gemini Apps to influence personalised advertising, provided users grant permission.
Google has updated its privacy policy to create a narrow but important route by which data from Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos can influence personalised advertising. The revised wording, which took effect on 16 October 2026, says some Google services, including Search and Gemini Apps, may access information across a user’s account to deliver more tailored experiences, including advertising, when permission has been granted.
The change matters because Google had previously given the impression that content stored in those products would not be used for ad targeting. The new policy adds an exception: if a user chooses to make information from Gmail, Drive or Photos available to another Google service that supports personalised ads, that data may then be processed for advertising under the receiving service’s rules and settings. Ars Technica reported that this effectively softens Google’s earlier promise not to use material from those services for ad personalisation.
Google’s support material draws an important distinction between raw account contents and the derived signals used by its systems. The company says advertisers do not get direct access to a Gmail inbox or a Google Photos library. Even so, Search can use summaries, excerpts and inferences drawn from that content both to personalise responses and to determine which ads appear. In practice, that means a hotel confirmation in an email could help Search recommend nearby activities, and the same underlying context may also become an advertising signal.
The policy does not remove all limits. Google still says personalised ads will not be based on sensitive categories such as health, religion, race or sexual orientation, and it maintains that identifying details such as a name or email address are not shared with advertisers unless a user asks for that to happen. Notebookcheck and other outlets that reviewed the updated wording noted that the change is framed as a permission-based exception rather than a blanket licence to mine every connected account.
Users who do not want Gmail, Drive or Photos feeding into this system can change their settings, although Google warns that the menus are still being updated and may look different across accounts. The company says people should review Search Services Personalisation, then open Additional Personal Intelligence and Connected Content Apps to disconnect Workspace or Photos. Advertising preferences are managed separately in My Ad Centre, while activity already saved in Search Services History must be deleted independently if users want it removed.
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