Given the recent EU Antitrust crackdown on Google (GOOGL  ), the iconic search engine has already started cleaning up its act, and will not scan people's emails in order to display personalized ads based on their preferences. Conversely, the company will display ads for users that are grounded in their activities on different Google websites and those of its partners, unless they elect to be excluded from such targeted marketing by turning off "ad personalization" in their personal Google settings.

Google doesn't perform this particular scan for business users who subscribe to its G Suite services, but until now, it regularly scanned the inboxes of its free users to better target ads for them. It then produced an amalgamation of that information and user profiles to more adeptly match ads to them.

Diane Greene, Google's senior VP for Google Cloud, says the company made this decision because it "brings Gmail ads in line with how we personalize ads for other Google products."

Google's practice of scanning users' email messages has consistently been branded as controversial, and consumer advocates have long raised privacy concerns about it. Google's change comes amid heightened concerns about the amount of personal data companies and businesses are collecting on consumers and the security of that data.

The move may also be a result of the latest tech slump, especially considering that Google's energies and resources are also being funneled into handling the antitrust case thrust upon it in Europe. The action can also be seen as a safeguard against any potential privacy or intellectual property lawsuits that could be positioned against Google as a result of this one practice it engages in. Tech companies and startups everywhere, including most recently and notably Uber, are attempting to redeem their ethical and questionable aspects that were once considered standard.

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In addition to announcing the change to Gmail, Google gloated about G Suite's recent performance. Usage of the service by large business has more than doubled over the past year and more than 3 million companies are now paying to use the service. On the corporate front, it seems that Google continues to do well but on a personal level, it faces the difficult tasks of preserving security efficiently, diverting consumers away from competitors and also ensuring that people receive enough ad exposure so as to maintain ad revenue levels. The decision to stop scanning emails could potentially help Google win more business customers, who were confused about the way Google scans consumer emails but not the emails of its corporate clients.

Google's main motivation behind this attempt could also be that its data shows it doesn't need this additional information about its users, further jeopardizing its privacy case. So far, the inbox scanning doesn't seem to have hampered Gmail's growth however as it now has 1.2 billion users.

Investors seem to have taken kindly to the news. This also could be due to the removal of one more potential lawsuit waiting to happen and the stability that such a removal would bring. Pressure is mounting for the tech giant on other fronts, but this may solve one of its problems.