Google is Changing How It Tracks Your Searches (And Your Photos)
If you use Google, Maps, YouTube, Shopping, or any other Google services, you’ll want to pay close attention over the next few days. Google is rolling out an update to how it saves your search history, and they are splitting one big setting into two new ones.
As usual, Google’s official announcement sounds a bit like confusing “legalese.” We’ve broken it down into plain English, so you know exactly what is changing and how to protect your privacy.
What is Changing
Previously, Google lumped almost everything you did into one massive bucket called Web & App Activity. If that was turned on, Google remembered everything you searched for to “personalize” your experience.
Now, Google is splitting that bucket into two separate settings:
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Search Services History: This controls whether Google remembers what you search for.
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Personalized Recommendations: This controls whether Google uses that history to show you targeted suggestions and ads.
Google says it will respect your current choices. If you already had Web & App Activity turned off, these new settings will stay off. If you had it turned on, they will stay on.
The Big Catch: Google is Now Saving Your Media (Photos & Voice)
There is one major change you need to know about. Because people are searching in new ways—like taking a photo of an item with Google Lens to look it up, or asking Google to identify a song—Google is now automatically saving your images, files, and voice recordings into your search history.
Google says they use this media to help you look back at your past visual searches and to train its AI models.
Here is the catch: If you currently have your history turned on, Google is going to turn this new “Save Media” feature ON by default.
How This Affects You and What To Do
You will see these new options pop up in your Google Account dashboard over the next few days.
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Auto-Delete: If you previously set your Google history to automatically delete itself after 3 or 18 months, that rule will still apply to this new setup.
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Take Control: You don’t have to let Google save your photos and voice recordings. You can leave your regular text search history turned on, but go into your settings and turn OFF the “Save Media” sub-setting.
Once the change rolls out to your account, you can review, change, or turn off these preferences entirely by visiting your Google Account page and checking the “Search Services History and Search Services Personalization” sections.
Keep an eye out for the change, and remember: it’s your data, so don’t be afraid to dig into those settings and turn off what you aren’t comfortable with.
To check or change these new privacy settings
Log directly into your Google Account dashboard here.
Once you are logged in, just look for the “Data & privacy” tab on the left-hand menu (or top of the screen on mobile). That is where you will find the controls for your Search History, Personalized Recommendations, and the new Media settings.