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Ane of Google'due south almost controversial practices over the years has been the automated scanning of email contents. Google used that data to target ads inside Gmail, which it places at the top of the list in your social and promotions tabs. Google now says it will end the practise of targeting ads based on e-mail text, only the decision was not made by the Gmail or advert teams. Information technology comes from Google'due south cloud unit of measurement, which is responsible for selling Thou Suite business organization subscriptions.

G Suite, or Apps for Work as it used to be known, costs $v or $10 per calendar month for each user, but larger customers tin contact Google for enterprise pricing. Thou Suite includes additional storage beyond the free 15GB that everyone gets, more security tools, and support for the usual list of Google cloud services similar Gmail and Drive.

It'southward interesting that Google Cloud was able to bear upon a change in the style Gmail ads are handled. Diane Greene, Google's SVP of cloud, says this change was made to offer a more than consistent experience beyond paid and costless versions of Gmail. G Suite has doubled its paying users in the concluding yr, so Google seems happy to let Greene make some big calls.

While the complimentary version of Gmail has done automated email scanning for advertizing purpose since its inception, that has never been the case in G Suite. If you pay Google for Gmail and other tools, y'all don't get those ads in the first identify. This change is supposed to put everyone'southward mind at ease, even business customers that aren't affected.

ads

Gmail ads.

So, now no one will see ads based on their email contents. Merely free users of Gmail will nonetheless get ads. Google says it tin apply data culled from other sources to target ads in a like ways. Later all, many Google users are sharing purchase, location, and personal preferences information with Google. That wasn't the case 13 years agone when Gmail launched.

There's another catch, too. Google's servers will still parse the content of your emails, but information technology'south non going to use that data for ads. Instead, that data will be channeled into user-facing features like Google's smart replies and the Google Feed. For example, getting an email with packet tracking details volition produce a card in the Google app that lets you easily rails your package. All that volition still piece of work, then y'all don't take to take your tinfoil chapeau completely off yet.

You can expect Google to end scanning your emails for ad purposes later this year.

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