Does Google use Gmail for ads? What its October 16, 2026 policy change says

The Morse teamPublished November 1, 20268 min read

As of November 1, 2026, Google doesn't use your Gmail for ads by default, but it can once you connect Gmail to Google Search. Since October 16, 2026, Google's privacy policy says it doesn'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." Connect Gmail and Photos to Search for Personal Intelligence, and Google says summaries, excerpts, and inferences from your email "may be used to show you ads."

We read the Google Privacy Policy (effective October 16, 2026), Google's own comparison of it against the October 1 version, its archived versions back to 2021, the Search and Gemini help pages on connected apps, the Gemini Apps Privacy Hub, Gmail's ads page, My Ad Center's help, and Google's 2017 Gmail announcement, all on November 1, 2026. Decrypt called the update quiet. Google's own archive shows every changed word, though, and Google added a dated update to its 2017 Gmail post the same day.

What exactly changed in Google's privacy policy on October 16, 2026?

Besides the effective date and two link labels, five passages changed. Google's comparison page marks each one against the version effective October 1, 2026.

Sources: the October 1 to October 16 comparison and the current policy, both read November 1, 2026.

The sensitive-categories line stayed the same. Google still says it doesn't show personalized ads based on "race, religion, sexual orientation, or health."

Did Google promise not to use Gmail for ads?

Yes, for nine years. On June 23, 2017, Diane Greene, then CEO of Google Cloud, wrote that "Consumer Gmail content will not be used or scanned for any ads personalization after this change" (Google).

The privacy policy picked up the promise four years later. The sentence "We don't show you personalized ads based on your content from Drive, Gmail, or Photos" isn't in the version effective February 4, 2021. It first appears in the version effective July 1, 2021, and it stood, word for word, through the October 1, 2026 version.

On October 16, 2026, Google added an update to the 2017 post. It says that if users connect Workspace apps to other Google services, "data from Workspace Apps will be processed to personalize other Google experiences, and depending on a user's settings, that same subset of data can also be used to show ads" (Google).

Which Google services can use your Gmail for ads now?

Search services, once you connect Gmail. Google's AI Mode help page says connecting your content apps means "all Search services will be permitted to access Workspace (currently Gmail and Google Calendar) and Google Photos," and it lists Search with AI Mode and Discover, Maps with Ask Maps, Shopping, Flights, Hotels, Translate, and News (Google).

Asked on that page whether your Gmail inbox or Photos library will be used to serve ads, Google answers (Google):

Ads will not be based directly on your Gmail inbox or your Google Photos library. If you connect your content apps to Search Services, Search may reference summaries, excerpts and inferences from these sources to personalize your experience and do things for you. That same info may be used to show you ads, so they are even more helpful for you.

The same page says that for a short email, "the summary may just be the email." Gmail's own ads page still opens with "Gmail does not scan or read your messages to show you ads," and a paragraph later adds the same exception for content "available to other Google services that support ads" (Google).

The Gemini app is different. The new policy paragraph names Gemini Apps as a service that can access Gmail, but the Gemini Apps Privacy Hub, last updated October 26, 2026, says "Your Gemini Apps chats are not being used to show you ads. If this changes, we will clearly communicate it to you" (Google). Our Gemini privacy guide covers what Gemini does keep.

Does the change apply to you?

Only if you're eligible for these features and switch them on. Google's pages, read November 1, 2026, set these limits:

• Age and account. Connecting content apps to Search is "available to users 18 and above" on a personal Google Account (Google). Personal Intelligence in Gemini "isn't available when you sign in to a work, school, or supervised Google Account" (Google).
• Where you live. Google's list of countries where Search can connect your content apps leaves out the European Economic Area, the UK, and Switzerland. Gemini's page says Personal Intelligence is "Not available in the European Economic Area, Nigeria, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom" (Google). The policy text is the same everywhere.
• Which apps. Search connects Gmail and Google Calendar, "with other Workspace apps coming soon," and Calendar only in the US in English. Connecting Google Photos "isn't available in all regions." The policy names Drive, but Search can't reach it yet.
• Which settings. Search needs Personalized Recommendations on, and can't use your Photos until you turn on Face Groups and select your own face. Gemini can't connect to Workspace unless Gmail's Smart features in other Google products is on.

How do you stop Google using your Gmail for ads?

Leave Gmail and Photos unconnected, or disconnect them. Each step below is from Google's own help pages, read November 1, 2026.

1. Search. In your Google Account, open Search Services Personalization, then Additional Personal Intelligence, then Connected Content Apps (Google). That's where Connect sits next to Google Workspace and Google Photos. Google says you can disconnect them "at any time" but doesn't print separate steps for it.
2. Gemini. On gemini.google.com, click Settings & help, then Personal Intelligence, then Connected Apps, and turn off Google Workspace and Google Photos (Google).
3. Gmail's own switch. In Gmail, open Settings, then See all settings, and on the General tab choose Manage Workspace smart feature settings and turn off Smart features in other Google products. Gemini "can't connect to Google Workspace when this setting is off." Our guide to turning off Gemini in Gmail lists what else that switch turns off.
4. Personalized ads. Go to My Ad Center and select Off next to "Personalized ads" (Google). Gmail's page says you may still see ads there, but "they will not be based on personal data Google has associated with your Google Account" (Google).

Disconnecting doesn't undo what Search already holds. Google says disconnecting an app "doesn't delete any data from your Search Services History," and that data "can still be used for product improvement, including training generative AI models" (Google). Delete it at activity.google.com, as our AI Mode privacy guide explains.

What does Google say it won't do with your email?

Four limits, each in Google's words:

• No sensitive categories. Ads aren't personalized on "race, religion, sexual orientation, or health" (Google).
• No inbox for advertisers. If you connect, "advertisers will not have access to your Gmail inbox or Google Photos" (Google).
• No selling. "Google does not sell your personal information, which includes your Gmail and Google Account information" (Google).
• No raw inbox in training. Search services "do not train generative AI models directly on your Gmail inbox," though they train on summaries, excerpts, and inferences (Google).

How Morse keeps your questions out of an ad profile

Every step above exists because your Gmail, your Photos, your searches, and your ad settings sit in one Google Account. Each feature that connects them opens another path from your inbox to the ads you see.

Morse is a separate place to ask, built without an ad profile. Morse doesn't show ads, sell your data, or train AI on your content, and it runs no advertising trackers or third-party analytics. Your chat history is stored in your browser, encrypted, not on our servers, so there's no inbox summary or search history on our side to infer anything from.

• Anonymous, to ask Gemini without Google knowing it's you. Our proxy removes your account, email, and IP address and sends the message under Morse's own account. Google sees the question without knowing it's you, and may keep it for a limited time to check for abuse, under its own policy. Leave names and booking details out of the message.
• Private, for questions you'd rather no company keep. Open-weight models like DeepSeek, Kimi, and GLM answer under the zero data retention agreements Morse has with its inference, search, and other providers. Where a provider confirms zero retention on each reply, Morse checks it.
• E2EE, for anything no one should read. Your browser checks the enclave's proof that it's genuine, then encrypts the message so only that enclave can read it, and our servers relay ciphertext they can't read. The guarantee rests on the enclave hardware and attestation working as designed. E2EE chats come with Pro, $19 a month.

Paste in the one email you want help with, not your whole inbox. Your history locks when you sign out, and clearing your browser deletes it for good, so keep anything you'll need.

Which setting should you change?

• You never connected anything: nothing changed for you, because the exception starts only once you connect Gmail or Photos.
• You use Personal Intelligence in AI Mode: your email summaries can shape ads. Disconnect Gmail and Photos, or turn off personalized ads in My Ad Center.
• You use Personal Intelligence in Gemini: Google says Gemini chats aren't used for ads. Disconnect Workspace and Photos there if you'd rather Gemini not read them.
• You want AI help with email and no ad profile at all: ask on Morse, where no ads are shown.

Try a chat from the Morse home page without an account, or start free with no card needed.