Google has begun testing AI Mode ads that can draw on summaries and inferences from Gmail and Google Photos once a user connects those apps through Personal Intelligence. An October 16 privacy-policy update adds an exception to the earlier line that content in Drive, Gmail, and Photos was not used for ads, while advertisers still cannot see the raw files. The October 16 test began less than two weeks before Alphabet’s Q3 2026 results.
Key Takeaways
- Google began testing AI Mode ads on October 16 for connected-app users.
- Summaries and inferences from Gmail and Photos can influence ad selection.
- Advertisers cannot see raw inboxes, photo libraries, names, or emails.
- Users can disconnect apps or turn off personalized Search recommendations.
What the October 16 Privacy Update Changes
On October 16, Google updated its privacy policy, specifically the ad-personalization section, a change Android Authority spotted and that The Verge and Ars Technica reported. Ars Technica quotes the old line: “We don’t show you personalized ads based on your content from Drive, Gmail, or Photos.” The new text, as The Verge reports it, adds “unless you choose to make data from these services available to other Google services that support personalized ads.”
Exchange4media reports that an older FAQ called that content “never used for ads purposes,” and that the page now carries an October 16, 2026 update. The outlet also says CEO Sundar Pichai had said Google did not use Gmail, Drive, Calendar, or Photos for advertising, “period.”
Google’s statement to Ars Technica:
Connecting your apps is entirely opt-in. Ads will continue to be relevant to things like your query, the context of the response and your interests. Ads will not be based directly on your Gmail inbox or Photos library, and as always, sensitive information will not be used to tailor ads.
The Verge quotes the policy: “Search may process some of the data that you allow Search to access to personalize content, including ads.” The Verge lists race, sexual orientation, religion, and health; Heise lists ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and health.
How AI Mode Ads Use Personal Intelligence
Personal Intelligence, released in early 2026, lets people connect Gmail, Drive, Photos, and other apps so Gemini and Search can use that context. Exchange4media says it launched in India in April and has since reached nearly 200 countries and territories across 98 languages.
Ars Technica notes the Gemini app does not currently carry ads, while sponsored content can appear in AI search tools. On October 16, Google began testing ads in AI Mode for users who have connected those apps. Exchange4media reports that “summaries, excerpts and inferences” from those sources may still shape what appears.
Connecting apps is opt-in, and users can disconnect them later. Heise says users can also turn off personalized recommendations in Search services from the Data and privacy section of a Google Account. Separating those services from Search does not delete personal data already collected, Heise reports, citing Android Authority, and deleting a photo or email is unlikely to undo copies kept in search history or in Gemini.
What Advertisers Still Cannot See
Advertisers do not receive Drive, Gmail, or Photos content, or details such as a name or email address, The Verge reports. Heise reports an exception that requires explicit consent: a phone number is shared when someone taps the “Tap to call” button on an ad.
Saurabh Kumar, founder of Envigo, told Exchange4media “the shift is in context, not in the targeting tools,” and that the transparency question “sits in the word ‘directly.'” Mihir Mehta, co-founder and managing partner at 0101.Today, told the same outlet: “The advertiser may know less about the individual, while the platform knows more.”
Rahul Vengalil, CEO and co-founder of tgthr, told Exchange4media he expects perhaps a 5-10% incremental improvement in advertising effectiveness, not anything approaching a 50% transformation. Exchange4media says that is his estimate, not campaign data, and that he sees more context on inference Google already practices.
What the Numbers Mean for Marketers
Alphabet reports Q3 2026 results on October 28. Google has not disclosed how many AI Mode users have connected personal apps, so the ad audience cannot be equated with overall reach.
The reach and Q2 figures below come from Exchange4media. Alphabet said AI features were driving Search query growth, with retail and finance the largest contributors to Search and other revenue growth.
| Product or metric | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| AI Mode monthly users | Surpassed 1 billion |
| AI Overviews monthly reach | More than 2.5 billion |
| Gmail users | 3 billion |
| Gemini app in August | 1 billion monthly users |
| Q2 Google advertising | $81.63 billion |
| Q2 Search and other | $63.27 billion |
| Q2 YouTube ads | $11.06 billion |
| Search and other growth | 17% year-on-year |
For buyers, this is asymmetry, not a new menu of levers. A connected inbox can make an ad more relevant without giving the buyer a segment to copy elsewhere.
- Do not equate this test with AI Mode’s billion-plus monthly users.
- Expect familiar controls; the new input is context buyers cannot inspect.
- Show clients how to disconnect apps or disable personalized recommendations.
People may connect Gmail for a better assistant without realizing the same context can personalize ads, the concern Kumar raised with Exchange4media. That question also runs through whether personalized search should worry marketers and through how email powers modern business operations.
