Google will no longer scan your emails to steer the ads it shows you—a longstanding controversial practice that you may not have even been aware the company was doing.
The surprise announcement seems to be an effort to appease paying users of Google’s office email software. The search giant has never shown those customers ads or skimmed their emails as it does with its free Gmail service, but some were confused about that point, according to Google Cloud SVP Diane Greene.
“This decision brings Gmail ads in line with how we personalize ads for other Google products,” Greene wrote in a blog post.
Dispatches From The Front 