Google has updated its Privacy Policy to allow information from Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos to contribute to personalized advertising under specific conditions. Effective October 16, 2026, the updated wording introduces an exception for users who voluntarily connect their information to other Google services that support personalized ads, including experiences powered by Personal Intelligence. The change drew renewed attention following media coverage on October 25–26. What does it actually mean for users, Google Ads advertisers, and the future of AI-powered advertising?
What Changed in Google’s Privacy Policy?
Google’s updated Privacy Policy introduces an important clarification about how information from its services may be used for advertising personalization.
Previously, Google’s policy stated that content stored in Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos was not used to serve personalized advertisements.
The updated wording retains that general protection but introduces an exception when users choose to share information with another Google service that supports personalized ads.
The services mentioned include:
- Gmail: email messages and related information.
- Google Drive: files and documents stored in the service.
- Google Photos: photographs and information associated with a user’s photo library.
The key change is that information voluntarily shared with another Google service may be processed under that service’s personalization rules.
For example, a user might allow Google Search to access information from connected Google services to receive more relevant AI-generated responses.
Google’s policy now explicitly acknowledges that information made available to Search can also be processed to personalize content, including advertisements.
This does not mean Google has automatically enabled advertising targeting based on everyone’s private emails, files, or photographs.
The exception depends on the user’s choices and the settings of the service receiving access to the information.
Can Google Use Gmail and Google Drive Data to Target Ads?
Potentially, but only under the conditions described in the updated policy.
Google states that content from Gmail, Drive, and Photos is generally not used for personalized advertising.
However, if someone chooses to make information from these services available to another Google service that supports personalized ads, the information may contribute to personalization in that service.
This is an important distinction.
A user may intentionally connect services to receive more relevant responses or recommendations.
The receiving service may then process the permitted information according to its own policies and settings.
For example, someone using an AI-powered travel planning experience could allow Google to consider information about a hotel reservation stored in Gmail.
That information could help personalize recommendations for activities near the hotel.
Under the updated policy, data shared with a service such as Search may also be used to personalize content, including ads, subject to applicable settings.
This is an illustrative example of cross-service personalization, not confirmation that Google is automatically using hotel booking emails to target a specific advertising campaign.
Does This Mean Google Reads Every Email to Personalize Ads?
No.
The policy update does not establish that Google is automatically using the contents of every Gmail inbox or Google Drive account for advertising targeting.
The relevant exception concerns information that users choose to make available to other services.
Nor does the update give advertisers permission to inspect private correspondence or documents.
The important development is that information shared between connected Google services may have advertising personalization implications.
What Is Google Personal Intelligence?
Personal Intelligence is a set of Google AI personalization capabilities designed to make responses and recommendations more relevant to an individual user.
Rather than relying exclusively on the current search query, eligible experiences can draw on additional context, such as past interactions, user preferences, and information from connected services.
Depending on the product, available features, user permissions, and location, Personal Intelligence may use information from services such as Gmail, Calendar, and Google Photos.
For example, an AI-powered assistant could use an upcoming travel reservation to recommend relevant activities or help a user plan an itinerary.
This could create a more personalized experience without requiring the user to explain the same details in every conversation.
The updated Privacy Policy introduces an important advertising consideration: information shared with a service through these connections may also be subject to that service’s personalized advertising practices.
However, connecting Google services is not the same as granting a third-party advertiser access to the underlying information.
Is Personal Intelligence Available Worldwide?
No. Availability varies by product, country, account type, and feature.
Some capabilities require users to be at least 18 years old and enable relevant personalization settings.
Features that connect Google content apps to Search are also subject to their own eligibility requirements and geographical restrictions.
Businesses should therefore avoid assuming that all users of Google Search or Gemini have access to the same Personal Intelligence functionality.
Do Google Ads Advertisers Get Access to Private User Data?
No. The Privacy Policy update does not provide advertisers with direct access to users’ Gmail messages, Google Drive files, or Google Photos libraries.
Google continues to state that it does not share personally identifying information with advertisers, such as users’ names or email addresses, unless users explicitly request an action that involves sharing that information.
The company also maintains restrictions on personalized advertising involving sensitive categories.
These include:
- Race and ethnicity.
- Religious beliefs.
- Sexual orientation.
- Health-related information.
The update should therefore not be interpreted as removing Google’s existing restrictions on sensitive advertising targeting.
It also does not establish a new Google Ads audience segment allowing advertisers to select people based on the contents of their emails or private documents.
This is particularly important for marketers evaluating potential changes to their campaign targeting strategies.
Did Google Introduce a New Google Ads Feature on October 16?
Not in the conventional sense.
The October 16 update concerns Google’s Privacy Policy and the rules governing how information may be processed across connected services.
It is not an announcement of a new advertising format, bidding strategy, or targeting option within Google Ads.
The change received broader attention in media reports published on October 25–26, 2026.
The news is the updated policy and its implications for AI-powered personalization, rather than the launch of a new advertising tool for all advertisers.
Google has not announced a dedicated reporting metric or audience targeting option that would allow advertisers to identify campaigns personalized using Gmail, Drive, or Photos information shared through Personal Intelligence.
For now, the most relevant implications concern the longer-term development of Google’s advertising ecosystem.
Why Is Google Expanding Its Personalization Framework?
The way people interact with search engines is changing.
Traditional search experiences often begin with a relatively short query.
AI-powered experiences can involve longer conversations, follow-up questions, complex comparisons, and detailed personal preferences.
As Google continues developing AI Mode and other AI-powered products, additional context can help its systems deliver more relevant information.
Personal Intelligence builds on this concept by allowing eligible users to connect information across Google services.
From an advertising perspective, richer context may eventually help Google better understand which commercial messages are relevant to users in specific situations.
However, the Privacy Policy update alone does not prove that personalized ads are becoming more effective or that advertisers now have access to additional targeting capabilities.
Those questions require further information about actual product behavior, advertiser controls, and performance measurement.
What Does This Mean for Google Ads Advertisers? Delante’s Analysis
For performance marketing teams, the most important takeaway is that Google is expanding the policy framework governing how information can contribute to personalized experiences.
This could have implications for the future of targeting, AI-powered search advertising, and campaign measurement.
However, the confirmed changes should be separated from potential future developments.
1. Advertising Personalization Could Become More Contextual
Google Ads has long used signals such as search activity, interests, location, and other permitted information to determine ad relevance.
The new policy explicitly recognizes another potential source of context: information users have chosen to share across Google services.
For marketers, this is an important development because personalized experiences may increasingly involve AI-generated content and broader contextual understanding.
It does not mean advertisers can manually target users based on their private emails.
For an overview of existing approaches to targeting and personalization, see Delante’s guide to Google Ads Personalization and How to Use It.
2. AI Mode Advertising Deserves Closer Attention
Google is already experimenting with advertising placements in AI-powered search experiences.
As covered in our September 2026 Google Ads updates, product ads can appear within AI Mode responses, creating additional opportunities for brands to reach users during their research and decision-making processes.
Personal Intelligence represents a separate development, focused on tailoring experiences to individual users.
It is reasonable for advertisers to monitor how these two areas evolve, but they should not assume that the updated privacy policy has automatically introduced new targeting functionality into AI Mode campaigns.
3. Greater Personalization Makes Data Governance More Important
As AI-powered services increasingly use contextual information, privacy controls and transparency become more important.
Companies should monitor how advertising platforms explain data collection, user permissions, and personalization.
This is particularly relevant to international businesses, where product availability and privacy requirements can vary between markets.
Marketing teams should distinguish between information users share directly with their business and information processed independently within Google’s ecosystem.
They should also avoid assuming that changes in Google’s own privacy practices automatically authorize new uses of their first-party customer data.
4. Advertisers Should Not Change Campaign Targeting Based on the Policy Alone
The update does not establish that Google Ads now provides new audience segments based on private Gmail, Google Drive, or Google Photos data.
There is also no confirmed reporting feature that separately identifies advertisements influenced by Personal Intelligence.
Therefore, businesses should not immediately restructure their campaigns or increase budgets based on the policy update.
A more useful approach is to monitor official product announcements and evaluate any future capabilities based on measurable results.
For businesses reviewing their current advertising setup, a Google Ads Audit can help identify issues in targeting, tracking, attribution, and budget allocation using functionality that is already available.
Could This Affect AI Search Optimization (AISO)?
The policy update is primarily about privacy and personalization rather than organic search rankings.
However, it reflects a broader shift toward AI-powered experiences that incorporate increasingly detailed context.
For brands, this raises important questions about how AI systems interpret user intent and select information to present in their responses.
AI Search Optimization (AISO) focuses on improving how brands, products, and services are represented in AI-generated search experiences.
Its scope includes brand visibility, accurate information, recommendation presence, and other factors influencing how businesses appear in AI responses.
However, AISO and advertising personalization are not interchangeable.
A brand’s organic visibility in AI-generated answers is different from the way Google selects paid advertisements.
The updated Privacy Policy does not establish that businesses can pay to influence organic AI recommendations or access private Personal Intelligence data for AISO purposes.
For more information, explore Delante’s AI Search Optimization services.
How Can Users Control Google Ad Personalization?
Google provides several tools for managing personalization and connected services.
Users can review their advertising preferences through My Ad Center.
Depending on the product and available settings, they may also be able to manage activity history, personalization preferences, and connections between Google services.
For Personal Intelligence features, eligible users can review or disconnect supported data sources.
These controls are not necessarily identical across Search, Gemini, and other Google products.
Users should review the settings of each relevant service to understand what information is available, how it may be processed, and which options can be changed.
Disconnecting a service also does not necessarily remove every piece of information previously saved in activity history. Separate data management controls may apply.
What’s Next for Gmail, Google Drive, and Personalized Advertising?
Google’s updated Privacy Policy has been effective since October 16, 2026.
It introduces an exception under which data from Gmail, Drive, and Photos may contribute to personalized advertising when users voluntarily make that information available to another Google service that supports personalized ads.
The change does not provide advertisers with direct access to private messages, documents, or photographs.
It also does not introduce a newly confirmed Google Ads targeting option based on the contents of those services.
The most important developments to monitor are the expansion of Personal Intelligence, its geographical availability, potential changes to AI-powered advertising experiences, and any new advertiser-facing reporting capabilities.
The key takeaway is that Google is creating a clearer policy basis for using voluntarily shared information across its services to personalize experiences, potentially including ads. For marketers, this is a significant direction to watch, but not yet a reason to change campaign targeting strategies.
Sources
- Google, Privacy Policy, effective October 16, 2026.
https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
- Google Search Help, Personal Intelligence: How AI Mode in Search Personalizes Responses for You.
https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/17212611?hl=en
- Google Search Help, Connect Your Google Content Apps to Get a Search Services Experience That’s Tailored to You.
https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/16859283
- The Indian Express, Google’s AI Personalisation Could Mean More Targeted Ads Based on User Data, October 26, 2026.
https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/googles-ai-personalisation-targeted-ads-user-data-10936203/
