Does Google use your Gmail and Photos for ads? Here's what changed

Google has updated its privacy policy, effective October 16, 2026, regarding the use of information from Gmail and Google Photos for ads. This change affects users who connect these services to Google's Search. While Google does not use content from these services to show personalized ads directly, it can use summaries, excerpts, and inferences from connected apps to personalize search experiences, including ads.

Users can control this through settings, including choosing which content apps to connect to Search. Google emphasizes that advertisers cannot access users' private inboxes or photos, but information from these apps can still influence the ads users see. The distinction between personalized recommendations and ad personalization is important, as the latter can include summaries and inferences from connected content.

Users must manage these settings separately for each service, and turning off personalized ads in My Ad Center does not delete all saved activity, which Google can continue to use to improve its services and AI models.