• sqgl@beehaw.org
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    4 months ago

    they can in turn use it as a point when luring advertisers.

    Wouldn’t that be shared only with potential advertisers upon request via a password rather than just making it publicly available?

    I am only speculating, are you?

    • jarfil@beehaw.org
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      4 months ago

      The intermediary companies also want to attract clients, whom to sell more detailed data. It isn’t unusual for them to release basic data like total number of users per domain, for free. For further segmentation, like interests, keywords, geolocation, client’s system properties, etc. they do require subscribing.

      I’m not speculating, I’ve had a chance to work at server maintenance (where basic data comes from), website design and maintenance (where 3rd part user trackers go), and both offering ad space and contracting ad services (dealing with these companies, ad networks, and website owners).

        • jarfil@beehaw.org
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          4 months ago

          The overall data flow works the same, but Google has its own ad network, Google Ads.

          Analytics showcases to any webmaster what are Google’s data gathering capabilities, Trends showcases comparative segmenting capabilities, while Ads, GA360, and Google Cloud, are what they try to sell.

          Google doesn’t publish website statistics, because they don’t want to sell a tool that would enable website owners to shop around for different ad networks.