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Google starts testing ads for people who link Gmail and Photos to AI search

Google is testing ads in AI Mode for users who link personal apps like Gmail and Photos, raising privacy concerns despite its data-use assurances.

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Google has begun testing ads in AI Mode, its search tool that answers questions like a chatbot, for people who connect their personal apps to it. The feature is called Personal Intelligence. When a user turns it on, AI Mode can look at information from Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Photos to give answers that fit that person. For example, it can use a flight confirmation in an email to suggest a coat for the weather at the destination. Google confirmed the ad test on October 16. Earlier this year, it had said that people who connect their apps would not see ads in AI Mode.

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The is called Personal Intelligence.

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Google says the ads will not be based directly on a person's inbox or photo library, and advertisers cannot see those files. However, its help page says that short summaries and guesses made from the connected apps may be used to show ads. Google also says it does not personalize ads using sensitive topics such as health, religion, race or sexual orientation. The feature is optional, and users can disconnect their apps at any time. Google has said that AI Mode does not train directly on Gmail inboxes or Photos libraries.

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Google the ads will not be based directly on a person's inbox or photo library, and advertisers cannot see those files.

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The news worries some privacy experts, because email shows a lot about a person's plans, purchases and life events. Since 2017, Google has promised not to show ads based on Gmail messages, and critics say the new test comes close to that line. Google has not said which countries are in the test or what kinds of ads people will see. A Forrester analyst said many users will wonder where helpful personalization ends and advertising begins. Supporters answer that the tool is optional and makes search faster.

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One word is in the wrong form: “say”. Type the correct form of that word.

A Forrester analyst say many users will wonder where helpful personalization ends and advertising begins.

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Topics Technology

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Add the new items from this text to your deck so they come back for review.

Final check · about 2 min

Questions from the whole text. Your answers move your words, phrases and grammar.

Speaking

Talk about this text out loud

Two minutes, free. Open an assistant with the prompt ready, turn on its voice and answer a few questions about the text. Nothing is recorded here.

Your level
  1. Step 1Choose your app: ChatGPT or Claude.
  2. Step 2Press its voice button.
  3. Step 3Answer 4–5 questions out loud.
Open in ChatGPT

The assistant's questions

  1. What is Google's new feature called, and what does it do?
  2. Why are privacy experts worried about this test?
  3. Do you think it's okay for companies to use your email data to show ads?
  4. Have you ever connected personal apps, like email or photos, to another service?
  5. If a company promised never to do something, then started doing it, what would you do?

Questions to ask the assistant

  • Do you use any AI tools that connect to your email or photos?
  • How do you feel about targeted ads in general?
  • Do you think privacy is still possible online today?
  • Would you trust a company more if it said personalization was optional?

Nothing to say? Start like this

  • I think that...
  • In my opinion...
  • From my experience...
  • I'm not sure, but maybe...
  • To be honest...

Words from the text

  • user a person who uses something, like an app Every user needs to create a password before logging in.
  • connect to join or link two things together I connected my phone to the TV so we could watch the video together.
  • suggest to say an idea for someone to think about My friend suggested a new restaurant for dinner tonight.
  • promise to say you will definitely do something She promised to call me as soon as she arrived home.
  • expert a person who knows a lot about a subject We asked a financial expert for advice before buying the house.
  • advertising showing ads to sell products or services The company spends a lot of money on advertising every year.
Show the prompt 
# Speaking practice: Google starts testing ads for people who link Gmail and Photos to AI search

You are my friendly English conversation partner. We talk by voice, so keep every reply short: one to three sentences. Speak English only.

About me: I am an intermediate learner (CEFR B1-B2): I can talk about experiences and opinions, with some mistakes.

The text we talk about is called “Google starts testing ads for people who link Gmail and Photos to AI search”. Google is testing a new feature called Personal Intelligence, which lets AI Mode read a user's Gmail, Calendar and Photos to give personalized answers. The company has now started showing ads to users who turn this feature on, even though it earlier promised not to. Privacy experts worry this could cross a line Google has promised to respect since 2017, about not using Gmail content for ads.

The conversation has three stages:

- 1. The text: start with the first questions, which are about what the text says.
- 2. Me: move on to the later questions, which are about my own experience and opinion.
- 3. The end: when I say we are done, or after the last question, stop asking and give the report below.

Ask me these questions in this order, one at a time. Wait for my answer and react to it in a few words before the next one.

1. What is Google's new feature called, and what does it do?
2. Why are privacy experts worried about this test?
3. Do you think it's okay for companies to use your email data to show ads?
4. Have you ever connected personal apps, like email or photos, to another service?
5. If a company promised never to do something, then started doing it, what would you do?

If I get stuck, give me one of these sentence starters or make the question easier:

- I think that...
- In my opinion...
- From my experience...
- I'm not sure, but maybe...
- To be honest...

Target words. Use them naturally in your own replies and ask questions that make me want to use them:

- user: a person who uses something, like an app Example: Every user needs to create a password before logging in.
- connect: to join or link two things together Example: I connected my phone to the TV so we could watch the video together.
- suggest: to say an idea for someone to think about Example: My friend suggested a new restaurant for dinner tonight.
- promise: to say you will definitely do something Example: She promised to call me as soon as she arrived home.
- expert: a person who knows a lot about a subject Example: We asked a financial expert for advice before buying the house.
- advertising: showing ads to sell products or services Example: The company spends a lot of money on advertising every year.

If I ask what a word means, answer in simple English with a short example. Say the word in my native language only if I ask a second time.

If I go off the topic, answer in one sentence, then bring me back to the question we were on.

Rules:

- Do not correct me while I speak. Let me finish my thought.
- Quietly keep a list of my mistakes and of the new words I used or needed.
- Report: my mistakes with the corrected sentences, which target words I used and which I did not (with a short meaning of each one I did not), and one thing to practise next.

Start now with the first question.

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