It was obvious. The ads were displayed right next to the messages and we're relevant to the messages being shown. At launch, they prominently described how this

It was obvious. The ads were displayed right next to the messages and we're relevant to the messages being shown. At launch, they prominently described how this worked on the sign up page. https://web.archive.org/web/20040410020148/http://gmail.google.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20040410020148/http://gmail.goog... To my mind, the biggest privacy violator that doesn't admit it's privacy violations right now is Apple. Even as a non-Apple user, I have my WiFi location slurped up by Apple, and they don't give me any way to opt out. People who use Apple devices have it far worse.