Google no longer to scan Gmail messages for selling Targeted Advertisements

In a move to revamp the privacy and security measures, Google has recently stated that its free Consumer Gmail content would not be used or scanned for any ads personalization henceforth. The policy change would put an end to the practice which has been in place since the launch of Gmail in 2004.
Gmail is the world’s preeminent email provider with more than 1.2 billion users. To make up for its free services, the Tech major sifted through what the Gmail users were discussing and showing ads relevant to some of the topics. This naturally prompted privacy and security concerns amongst its many users. The Ads shown however are based on users’ settings. Users can change settings at any time, including disabling ads personalization.

The move effectively brings the widely-used email service in line with its enterprise offering, G Suite. G Suite’s Gmail is already not used as input for ads personalization, and would continue to be ad free in future too. While Google still plans to show advertisements within Gmail, this time around the company’s algorithms would bet on signals other than scanning of content of its 1.2 billion users.

The measure also seems to be aimed at finding and retaining corporate clients for Google's cloud services business. 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.

Source: GoogleBlog