Google started out collecting it with no idea what to do with it. User data was a waste product like gasoline was before someone invented a mass market car. Goo

Google started out collecting it with no idea what to do with it. User data was a waste product like gasoline was before someone invented a mass market car. Google figured out they could buy the then-leader in targeted advertising and apply their data to it when the tech market turned and investors suddenly started asking about business models.