Google is giving you more control over search history and personalization

Google is updating how it handles saving your search history and provides personalized recommendations. The company is adding new settings to offer better control over your saved history and recommendations.

Currently, Google Search manages saving history and personalized recommendations via the Web & App Activity settings and the Search Personalization settings. However, a new Google support page states that you will soon be able to manage both those features independently through two new settings: “Search Services History” and “Personalized Recommendations.”

Search Services History includes data from Search, Maps, Shopping, Flights, and other key Google services. However, it doesn’t include data from services that have their own history settings, such as Chrome, Gemini Apps, and YouTube.

It can now also include media from your interactions, including uploaded images from Google Lens, audio recordings from Search Live, and more. However, these will only be saved if you have the “Save Media” option enabled.

On the other hand, the “Personalized Recommendations” settings control whether Google shows content tailored to you. This can include results that match your interests, curated feeds, and more.

Google also says the new settings will honor your current “Web & App Activity” and “Search Personalization” setup. For example, if you have enabled Web & App Activity but disabled Search Personalization, it will only enable Search Services History in the new settings.

You will still be able to control the duration for which your data is saved, and you will be able to delete it as well.

It’s worth noting that Google isn’t completely getting rid of the Web & App Activity settings. The company specifically mentions that “Web & App Activity continues to control activity collection and personalization for some other Google services.”

The new settings are rolling out over the coming weeks, and you will be able to adjust your settings from the Search Services History and Personalized Recommendations options. Meanwhile, if they aren’t showing up for you yet, your data is still being controlled using the Web & App Activity options in Search.