Let\u2019s say, for instance, that you\u2019re researching new cars. Personal Intelligence could make recommendations by looking to your email to figure out what you drive now, what kind of activities you might use the car for, and who else you\u2019ll be driving around in it. AI allows Google to synthesize a clearer picture of who you are. The only question is whether those particular AI interactions involving personal data will become fair game for targeted ads.<\/p>\n
Allie Bodack, a Google spokesperson, says via email that the company isn\u2019t using Gmail data for targeted ads right now. She points to a\u00a0recent statement to Search Engine Land<\/a>\u00a0saying that when users enable Personal Intelligence features, they currently won\u2019t see ads in the AI Mode of Google Search. Asked if Google is using Personal Intelligence to target ads elsewhere\u2014for instance, in regular Google searches\u2014Bodack says \u201cthat\u2019s not the case today.\u201d<\/p>\n But neither that response nor Google\u2019s statement to Search Engine Land rule out showing ads based on Gmail data in the future, and the company\u2019s statement acknowledges that ads are coming to AI mode even for users who\u2019ve set up Personal Intelligence. While Google is proceeding with caution due to the sensitive nature of users\u2019 email communications, the insights it can gain from that data may be too useful to pass up.<\/p>\n How your emails could become targeted ad fodder<\/p>\n Google introduced Personal Intelligence in January, and\u00a0made it available to all U.S. users in March<\/a>. Once activated, it allows Google to reference personal information from Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Photos when users search in the Gemini app or in Google Search\u2019s AI Mode.<\/p>\n For instance, if you\u2019re shopping for clothes, Google might look through your purchase receipts in Gmail to figure out what brands and styles you like. If you ask for places to visit, Google might use your emails and photos to figure out where you\u2019ve already been.<\/p>\n As noted by a\u00a0Google support document<\/a>, these AI responses become part of your Search Services History, which is a record of past search interactions tied to your account. That same document mentions that Google uses this history for targeted ads. (Google also uses these interactions to train its AI models, albeit with personal information removed.)<\/p>\n \u201cYour saved history helps tailor your experience on Search services and across Google,\u201d the document says. For example, it helps you revisit previous searches and get personalized recommendations and ads, based on your\u00a0personalization settings<\/a>, the document says.<\/p>\n This doesn\u2019t mean Google is scanning entire inboxes to build advertising profiles of its users. Instead, it implies that if you ask Google\u2019s AI a question that requires information from your email to answer, that response could part of the record that Google uses for ad targeting.<\/p>\n \u201cEmail data is particularly valuable because it reveals high-intent signals about travel plans, purchases, subscriptions, life events, and professional interests that are often more predictive than browsing behavior,\u201d Forrester principal analyst Nikhil Lai says via email. \u201cWhile Google emphasizes that Personal Intelligence is designed to improve AI responses, consumers are likely to question where the line exists between personalization and advertising.\u201d<\/p>\n Personal Intelligence is an opt-in feature; there\u2019s\u00a0a page on Google\u2019s website<\/a>\u00a0allowing users to connect or disconnect their Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendar, Drive) and Google Photos accounts. Still, Google has been\u00a0pushing Personal Intelligence via pop-ups in its Gemini app<\/a>, so it\u2019s possible that users may enable the feature without fully understanding the implications.<\/p>\n Why it matters<\/p>\n To be sure, Google already has lots of other ways to understand who you are. Many of the websites you visit and apps you use have embedded tracking code from Google for monitoring your activity beyond its own websites, and services like Chrome and Google Search give the company a detailed view of what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n But with Personal Intelligence, Google has the ability to generate even deeper insights into users\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n A\u00a0story from June by David Pierce of\u00a0The Verge<\/a>\u00a0is particularly instructive, as he demoed an upcoming AI agent from Google called Spark. With access to Pierce\u2019s Gmail, Spark was able to determine his wife\u2019s dietary preferences, the exact ages of his two children, and the names of his entire family (including his parents).<\/p>\n \u201cI know that Google knows an incredible amount about me\u2014add up my emails, my calendar, my photos, and my search history, and you\u2019ve pretty much got me pegged. But seeing Spark treat all that data not as something to be protected, but as something to be mined, just feels bad,\u201d Pierce wrote.<\/p>\n Of course, mining that information for advertising purposes would be the logical next step for a company whose parent, Alphabet, derived\u00a073% of its revenue<\/a>\u00a0from ads last year. While Google says it\u2019s not doing that today, it\u2019s not guaranteeing that it\u2019ll stay that way forever.<\/p>\n Lena Cohen, a staff technologist for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says features often introduce new vectors for companies to collect or misuse personal data, and that users deserve more transparency from Google about how that data will be used.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s unacceptable that it takes a journalist asking the company, and that it\u2019s so unclear to regular Google users how their emails may or may not link to Google\u2019s ad targeting system through this new AI feature,\u201d Cohen says.<\/p>\n
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