Overview
Google is rolling out new privacy controls across its Search services and Google Play ecosystem, giving users more granular control over how their activity is stored and how personalized recommendations are generated.
Rather than managing everything through a single Web & App Activity setting, Google is introducing separate controls for Search Services History, Personalized Recommendations, Play History, and Personalization in Play. The change is designed to provide greater transparency and flexibility while supporting newer AI-driven and interactive search experiences.
What’s Changing?
Historically, Google managed search history and personalization through a single Web & App Activity setting. With this update, users will be able to independently control:
- Search Services History
- Search Services Personalization
- Google Play History
- Google Play Personalization
Google Search services covered by these new settings include:
- Google Search
- Google Maps
- Google Shopping
- Google Hotels
- Google Flights
- Google Translate
- Google News
This separation allows users to save activity history without necessarily allowing Google to use that information for personalized recommendations.
New Media-Saving Capabilities
One of the more significant changes is Google’s introduction of media storage within Search Services History.
According to Google, saved media may include:
- Images
- Audio recordings
- Videos
- Files uploaded during searches
This is particularly relevant for newer experiences such as:
- Google Lens visual searches
- Voice-based search interactions
- AI-powered search conversations
- Interactive search sessions
Google states that this functionality helps users revisit previous interactions and continue conversations across devices and sessions.
However, Google also confirms that saved media may be used to improve Google products, safety systems, and AI technologies. Users who are uncomfortable with this capability can disable media saving or remove individual media items from their history.
Why This Matters
From a privacy perspective, this is a positive move because users gain more control over what data is stored and how it is used.
For example:
- A user may want search history retained for convenience.
- The same user may not want personalized recommendations generated from that data.
- Previously, these choices were more tightly coupled.
The new model provides greater flexibility and visibility into Google’s data collection and personalization mechanisms.
At the same time, users should be aware that if Web & App Activity is already enabled, Google may automatically enable the new Search Services History and Save Media settings during the transition process.
Recommendations for Users
To maintain visibility and control over your data:
- Review your Google Account privacy settings once the update becomes available.
- Verify whether Search Services History has been enabled automatically.
- Check if the Save Media option is turned on.
- Review your auto-delete retention settings.
- Disable personalized recommendations if you prefer a less customized experience.
- Regularly review and remove historical searches, images, audio recordings, and uploaded content that are no longer needed.
For organizations, security awareness programs should remind employees that cloud platforms continue to evolve their privacy settings, and periodic reviews remain essential for governance and compliance.
Expert in the Cloud Insight
This update reflects a broader trend across the technology industry: moving away from large, all-encompassing privacy settings toward more granular user controls.
While increased transparency is welcome, organizations should recognize that AI-powered services are becoming increasingly dependent on historical user interactions, uploaded media, voice recordings, and contextual search activity. The more personalized and intelligent these services become, the more important it is to understand exactly what data is being retained and how it may be used.
For security and compliance teams, the key takeaway is not simply whether data is being collected, but whether users understand what is being collected. As AI-enabled search experiences continue to evolve, privacy reviews should become a regular part of digital governance processes rather than a one-time configuration exercise.
The balance between convenience, personalization, and privacy will continue to be one of the defining challenges of the AI era — and this latest Google update is another step in that ongoing journey.
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