Google Will No Longer Scan Your Gmail Messages

If you're a Gmail user, you might not be aware of the fact that Google scans your email in order to send out targeted ads to those who use the app. Google is ending this controversial practice and will instead continue to track your actions on other Google sites in order to determine what ads to send you. Users can change those settings at any time, including disabling ads personalization. The practice has raised concerns among privacy watchdogs and creeped out some users. Gmail is the world's preeminent email provider with more than 1.2 billion users. Someone writing about running, for instance, might see ads for Nike or Asics shoes. "This decision brings Gmail ads in line with how we personalize ads for other Google products", Greene wrote in the post.

The Mountain View, California, company said it would stop the ad-driven scanning of Gmail later this year.

Google has announced that it will stop scanning the inboxes of Gmails free users for ad personalization at some point later this year.

Google didn't actually scan emails from G Suite users or show them advertisements, because those businesses are directly paying for the service. G Suite customers and free consumer Gmail users can remain confident that Google would keep privacy and security paramount as it continues to innovate, quoted Google cloud computing chief Diane Greene in a blog post announcing the decision.

Danny Sullivan, the founding editor of the online blog Search Engine Land, called the move a "big change" for Gmail, noting that the scanning of email contents "has been the biggest hit against the services since it began".