/home/corrado/.local/share/zeitgeist is empty.
copy /home/corrado/.local/share/zeitgeist from a different installation
seems solving the problem


Ubuntu installed from: Ubuntu 17.04 "Zesty Zapus" - Alpha amd64 (20170222)

corrado@corrado-z4:~$ uname -a
Linux corrado-z4 4.10.0-9-generic #11-Ubuntu SMP Mon Feb 20 13:47:35 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
corrado@corrado-z4:~$ 

zeitgeist does not start. /home/corrado/.local/share/zeitgeist is empty.

Feb 24 07:17:22 corrado-z4 dbus-daemon[2481]: Activating via systemd: service name='org.gnome.zeitgeist.Engine' unit='zeitgeist.service'
Feb 24 07:17:22 corrado-z4 systemd[2432]: Starting Zeitgeist activity log service...
Feb 24 07:17:22 corrado-z4 zeitgeist-vacuu[3236]: zeitgeist-vacuum.vala:38: Impossible to open database `/home/corrado/.local/share/zeitgeist/activity.sqlite': unable to open database file
Feb 24 07:17:22 corrado-z4 systemd[2432]: zeitgeist.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=14
Feb 24 07:17:22 corrado-z4 systemd[2432]: Failed to start Zeitgeist activity log service.
Feb 24 07:17:22 corrado-z4 systemd[2432]: zeitgeist.service: Unit entered failed state.
Feb 24 07:17:22 corrado-z4 systemd[2432]: zeitgeist.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Feb 24 07:17:25 corrado-z4 pulseaudio[2906]: [pulseaudio] bluez5-util.c: GetManagedObjects() failed: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.TimedOut: Failed to activate service 'org.bluez': timed out
Feb 24 07:17:30 corrado-z4 gnome-software-service.desktop[3040]: 06:17:30:0981 Gs  failed to call gs_plugin_add_updates_historical on fwupd: Error calling StartServiceByName for org.freedesktop.fwupd: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.TimedOut: Failed to activate service 'org.freedesktop.fwupd': timed out
Feb 24 07:17:47 corrado-z4 zeitgeist-datah[3228]: log.vala:103: Unable to connect to Zeitgeist: Error calling StartServiceByName for org.gnome.zeitgeist.Engine: Timeout was reached

copied /home/corrado/.local/share/zeitgeist from another Ubuntu installed from the old daily: Ubuntu 17.04 "Zesty Zapus" - Alpha amd64 (20161106)
where zeitgeist start fine and /home/corrado/.local/share/zeitgeist is not empty.
now it contains:
corrado@corrado-z4:~$ ls ~/.local/share/zeitgeist -l
total 4316
-rw------- 1 corrado corrado  339968 feb 26 08:22 activity.sqlite
-rw------- 1 corrado corrado   32768 feb 26 09:03 activity.sqlite-shm
-rw------- 1 corrado corrado 4041752 feb 26 09:03 activity.sqlite-wal
drwxr-xr-x 2 corrado corrado    4096 feb 26 09:03 fts.index
corrado@corrado-z4:~$ 

zeitgeist start ok!

Feb 26 08:38:59 corrado-z4 dbus[918]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.fwupd' unit='fwupd.service'
Feb 26 08:39:13 corrado-z4 dbus-daemon[2305]: Activating via systemd: service name='org.gnome.zeitgeist.Engine' unit='zeitgeist.service'
Feb 26 08:39:13 corrado-z4 systemd[2265]: Starting Zeitgeist activity log service...
Feb 26 08:39:13 corrado-z4 dbus-daemon[2305]: Activating via systemd: service name='org.gnome.zeitgeist.SimpleIndexer' unit='zeitgeist-fts.service'
Feb 26 08:39:13 corrado-z4 dbus-daemon[2305]: Successfully activated service 'org.gnome.zeitgeist.Engine'
Feb 26 08:39:13 corrado-z4 systemd[2265]: Started Zeitgeist activity log service.
Feb 26 08:39:13 corrado-z4 systemd[2265]: Starting Zeitgeist full-text search indexer...
Feb 26 08:39:14 corrado-z4 zeitgeist-datah[3061]: zeitgeist-datahub.vala:229: Unable to get name "org.gnome.zeitgeist.datahub" on the bus!
Feb 26 08:39:14 corrado-z4 dbus-daemon[2305]: Successfully activated service 'org.gnome.zeitgeist.SimpleIndexer'
Feb 26 08:39:14 corrado-z4 systemd[2265]: Started Zeitgeist full-text search indexer.
Feb 26 08:39:14 corrado-z4 systemd[1]: Starting Stop ureadahead data collection...
Feb 26 08:39:14 corrado-z4 systemd[1]: Stopping Read required files in advance...
Feb 26 08:39:14 corrado-z4 systemd[1]: Started Stop ureadahead data collection.