Google splits Search and Play privacy controls

Google is rolling out new privacy controls that separate saved history from personalized recommendations for Search services and Google Play, with new options for whether Google saves activity—and even media—from your interactions.

Google’s latest privacy rollout doesn’t just ask you to trust a single switch anymore. It breaks saved activity and personalization into separate controls—so what gets stored and what gets used to tailor your experience are now handled in different places.

In an email titled “New privacy settings for Search services. ” Google told users it is “updating our settings to give you even more control over saved history and personalized recommendations across Google Search services and Google Play.” Users were told the change would appear in their Google Account over the next few days.

The message makes clear which parts of Google count as “Search services.” Google lists “Search. Maps. Shopping. Hotels. Flights. Translate. and News.” Starting with the rollout. Google is splitting how activity from those services is handled. moving beyond the older approach where both history and personalization were governed through one place.

Until now, Google allowed people to manage history and personalization through Web & App Activity. Google’s own framing in the email points to that overlap: “Previously. saving history and personalization were managed by Web & App Activity. ” the company said. “Going forward, you can better tailor your Search services experience using your new Search Services History and Personalized Recommendations settings.”.

Search Services History and Personalized Recommendations are separate. Google’s email says Search Services History controls whether activity from Search services is saved to your Google Account. The company says this can include “your searches. ” plus activity from Maps. Shopping searches. Flights and Hotels activity. Translate usage. News activity. and more.

Google also says this change makes it easier to revisit earlier searches and continue using newer interactive search experiences.

There’s a second layer of control that matters for anyone who uses visual or voice features. With the rollout, Search Services History also includes media from your interactions with Search services—unless you stop it.

Google says Search services media can include “images. files. audio and video from your interactions with Search services.” It adds that this can include visual searches with Google Lens and audio from voice-based interactions. Google ties the feature to interactive product experiences. saying. “For example. this lets you revisit your past visual searches with Lens or continue a Search Live conversation about a song you heard.”.

That media-saving option. Google says. is intended to support interactive experiences and uses “robust privacy and security protections.” But it also comes with a choice. Google says you can turn off the Save Media subsetting at any time and you can delete individual pieces of media from your history.

The email also makes the tradeoff explicit: saved media, like Search Services History, can be used to develop and improve Google services and technologies, including “AI models and safety measures.” Google says it applies privacy and security protections while doing so.

Another important detail is how Google’s settings behave during transition. If Web & App Activity is currently turned on, Google says Search Services History will be turned on after the transition, and the Save Media subsetting will also be turned on.

Personalization gets its own switch, too. Google is introducing a separate Personalized Recommendations setting for Search services, giving users control over whether Google personalizes what they see.

In plain terms, Google is separating the storage decision from the tailoring decision. Search Services History controls whether the activity is saved, while Personalized Recommendations controls whether saved data is used to tailor search results and other parts of the Search services experience.

Google also says the separation is designed to prevent accidental coupling. After the transition, Web & App Activity will be separate from Search services’ history and personalization settings, and “changes to one setting will not affect the others.”

The same pattern is coming to Google Play. In the same email, Google says new Play History and Personalization settings will appear even if a person has never used Google Play. Like the Search settings, Google says they can be turned on or off at any time.

Google says these new controls will reflect users’ most recent choices from Web & App Activity and Search Personalization settings. It adds that your prior choice about how long your history is saved “will also apply to Search Services History and Play History.” Google also says you can still change the auto-delete period. manually review your history. or delete activity at any time.

For people worried about their digital footprint. the rollout is a shift that feels small in the UI but significant in practice: history and personalization are no longer linked under one broad switch. Google says the change will show up in accounts over the next few days. and the company’s own message is clear about the one task users should do once it arrives—check the new settings. especially if Web & App Activity is currently enabled.

Google privacy controls Search Services History Personalized Recommendations Web & App Activity Google Play privacy Save Media Google Lens voice interactions AI models and safety measures activity deletion