Google reimagined search query by-products as a resource for learning

Evidence

What had been regarded as waste material—“data exhaust” spewed into Google’s servers during the combustive action of Search—was quickly reimagined as a critical element in the transformation of Google’s search engine into a reflexive process of continuous learning and improvement. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 212

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the key ‘data exhaust’ metaphor for search by-products.
• XREF: connects to: Google’s 2008 DoubleClick alliance fused search and profile tracking — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 114; Google justifies total knowledge collection as a requirement for useful search — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1275; Google institutionalized click-through prediction as a new science of commerce — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 263 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Search queries yield collateral behavioral data beyond the key words themselves #expands (0.72) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 208