Skip to Content

Google Will Stop Scanning Your Emails to Show Personalized Ads in Gmail

by

Google today announced that it will stop scanning the emails of its free Gmail users for the purpose of delivering personalized ads later this year.

gmail logo
If you've recently received a lot of emails about photography or cameras, for example, currently Google may show you a deal from a local camera store that it thinks might be interesting to you. On the other hand, if you've reported those emails as spam, then Google would take steps not to show those ads.

Google users may still see personalized ads while using Gmail and the company's other services, depending on their account settings, but the contents of a user's inbox will no longer factor into the ads that are shown.

Tags: Gmail, Google

Top Rated Comments

826317 Avatar
114 months ago
I still don't trust Google.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
114 months ago
Many years ago I had my Gmail hacked because I stupidly used the same password on a few websites (not all) and this Ubuntu forum I used to frequent before becoming a Mac user was hacked and they used that to access my Gmail. This was before two-step and stuff like that. And apparently my backup email, which was Yahoo back then, had shut down my email because I hadn't used it for so long. I couldn't find anyone at Google or anywhere on their site that could help me.

It was around that time that I was getting into Macs and iPhones and I had the realization that if you're not paying for it in some way, you're the product being sold. I think this was also around the time Google started doing creepy stuff like this and becoming more invasive with tracking, throwing their "don't be evil" motto to the wind, as well as blatantly copying the iPhone functionality in their new Android OS. I started removing myself from everything Google, such as Docs and Calendar that I used all the time, and moved everything over to Mobile Me when that came out. It was a bit of a cluster, but I liked paying for it instead of selling my soul to the devil, and it has gotten a lot better over the years. I just can't trust Google to not betray my trust or to have my back if something goes wrong.

That realization led to me eventually shutting down things like FaceBook, as I realized that I was just giving them all of this information for free so they could make money off of me while massively wasting my time. I wish there were a paid social network that doesn't have all that crap, but the nature of people and getting them to part with their cash means that you'd never get the network big enough to be worthwhile. They tried that with app.net a few years ago and it failed.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
114 months ago
Ok, what's the catch ?
There isn't one directly. They are trying to sell Gmail as an "enterprise solution" to companies which don't want to run their own email infrastructure. It's part of what they call "G Suite". Corporate customers' email has never been scanned, but there has been a lot of confusion from them. To remove the confusion, the G Suite team pressured the Gmail team to remove content scanning entirely.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
slimothy Avatar
114 months ago
Still won't use. Such a creepy company.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
114 months ago
Google is garbage look at Nexus Pixel the next update will be in Oktober 2018!
I disagree. The Pixel was surprisingly a really nice phone with a solid build. I think Google did a nice job with the Pixel and it offered some nice features.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
EdT Avatar
114 months ago
Ok, what's the catch ?
After enough new people start using Google Mail they'll revert back to their old policy.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Unveils Two New Products

Monday March 2, 2026 7:49 am PST by
Apple today introduced two new devices, including the iPhone 17e and an updated iPad Air. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as the iPhone 16e, but it gains Apple's A19 chip, MagSafe for magnetic wireless charging and magnetic accessories, Apple's second-generation C1X modem for faster 5G, and a doubled 256GB of base storage. In the U.S., the iPhone 17e starts at $599, just like the ...
Apple iPhone 17e feature

Apple Announces iPhone 17e With A19 Chip, MagSafe, and More

Monday March 2, 2026 6:07 am PST by
Apple today announced the iPhone 17e, featuring the A19 chip, MagSafe connectivity, faster charging, and more. The iPhone 17e contains the A19 chip introduced in iPhone 17. It features a 6-core GPU and a 4-core GPU. Apple pointed out that this makes it up to 2x faster than the iPhone 11. The new 16-core Neural Engine is optimized for large generative models. The iPhone 17e also contains...
iPad Air M4 Chip 1

Apple Unveils iPad Air With M4 Chip, Increased RAM, Wi-Fi 7, and More

Monday March 2, 2026 6:05 am PST by
Apple today introduced a new iPad Air, with key upgrades including Apple's M4 chip for faster performance, an increased 12GB of RAM, Apple's N1 wireless networking chip with Wi-Fi 7 support, and Apple's custom C1X modem in cellular models. The new iPad Air has the same overall design as the previous-generation model, which is equipped with the M3 chip, 8GB of RAM, and Wi-Fi 6E support....