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Structured datastore of crawled documents and signals used to retrieve and rank results.

Definition

A search index stores documents (or representations), metadata, and ranking signals to support fast retrieval. Indexing can include cached snippets and links between pages.

In plain English Structured datastore of crawled documents and signals used to retrieve and rank results.

Why this matters

Why it matters: Indexing increases discoverability of personal data, enabling doxxing and long-term exposure.

Example

Example: Removing a page may not immediately remove indexed copies; delisting processes may be needed in some contexts.