Making Google Now less personal

Q)  Google Now shows stories related to stuff I’ve looked up previously on the web. Can I turn it off?
Google Now, the virtual personal assistant available on many Android devices and on iOS gadgets with the Google Search app, tries to be as useful as possible in anticipating your needs. It does this by gathering personalised information you may actually want, like traffic conditions, events and public alerts based on your current location.

The service also pulls in other data from Google services you may also use, like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Plus and your web-search history from the Chrome browser. Google also reels in other searches you have previously made on when logged into your Google account using other browsers on other computers.

All this stored Google web history is made up of more than just search terms you have used recently. It can also include web pages you visited, ads you clicked on and results from searches made in other Google apps like Gmail. (To share your interest with Google Now directly, flick to the bottom of the main screen, tap the magic-wand icon and add your custom preferences on the next screen.)

If you would rather not see Google Now display content related to your past web activity, flick to the bottom of the screen and tap the three-dot icon in the lower-right corner. Tap Settings on the menu and then tap “Accounts & privacy” on the next screen. Tap the button next to Web History to toggle it off.

You can also take control of your Google web history if you do not want your activity recorded. You can delete all or some of the search history from your Google account by logging in at google.com/history. You can also adjust Google Now’s use of your location settings and delete past searches on your mobile device.