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.

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).

You asked where do they get the data from… well, that’s the answer 🤷

The numbers could be fictitious (you didn’t ask whether they get “reliable data”), or they could be doctoring them themselves… but there is a number of companies whose work is to let sites put trackers that gather user data, so they can in turn use it as a point when luring advertisers.

It isn’t “highly guarded confidential” information, websites would happily submit their access logs if that could make them look more appealing to advertisers… but they don’t, because: a) they could be sending fake data, which would make the aggregating company lose face, meaning they won’t accept self-reported data, and b) site logs contain a lot of users’ personal information, sharing which could fall afoul of privacy legislation.

They may still have to pay for access to parse that data, or extract it from the data made publicly available (…which could still be doctored, but 🤷)

Right, that one! I forgot the name. So, I wonder if it could be something like that going on.

Right. I remember there was a game about “controlling” areas, virtual but based on IRL geocaching. These monoliths that people place in somewhat remote places, then dismantle them after a few days, got me thinking it could be part of a “find it while it’s there” or something.

It’s interesting to see they’re still going after at least 4 years.

The US, has a history of slavery.

China has a history of suicide prevention nets, docking pay for not finishing your lunch, millions of undocumented illegal migrant workers, houses full of camgirls “because they’re young and need to be controlled”, closed apartment complexes with thousands of catfishing “remote workers”, and so on. AKA: outsourced slavery.

But you’re right, it’s the capitalist way.

a Taliban spokesman also denied there had been any arrests for “bad hijab” and said: “The issue of rape is not at all possible because there is not just one or two people [in the room with a prisoner] and when there are three people, such a crime would not happen …[this is] a very sensitive issue for the Taliban. I am sure such a thing did not happen.”

Translation: gangbang is not possible. 🙄

One was right at the end of a car road. Another, it says 4 people were needed to dismantle it. But even for the more inaccessible places, there is also helicopters.

According to the website MonolithTracker.com, there have been a total of 245 monoliths reported worldwide since late 2020.

That’s some dedication. I wonder how it compares to crop circles.

Didn’t Cicada 3301 have a geocaching component? Or that was a different game… hm.

Curate your feed, report+block does wonders on Facebook.

You can see the source of the data in the table:

https://therighting.com/traffic-reports/news-websites-endure-traffic-tailspin-in-may/

They publish monthly traffic reports:

https://therighting.com/traffic-reports/

mainstream news websites based on Comscore data

https://www.comscore.com/

…whether you trust their methodology, is a separate matter.

Depends on what interests are linked to the sides.

In the case of Taiwan, the PRC is the main worldwide producer of cheap goods, so nobody wants to antagonize them, but at the same time many countries have interests in outsourcing and importing from Taiwan, so they end up in a “low-key recognize” situation.

In other cases… some countries have a direct strategic interest in one side, some have economic relations with one side but not the other, and others just don’t care.

Depends on the meaning of “recognized”:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Foreign_relations_of_Taiwan#Full_diplomatic_relations

Only 12 countries have Taiwan embassies, but another 89 maintain “unofficial diplomatic relationships”.

The UN has 193 member states, so that would make it either 6%, or 52% of the countries.

The conclusion seems to be “wait, let’s talk this over”. Sounds reasonable.

There is an allegation about him helping/inciting/collaborating/conspiring with Manning to break a password that would allow them to access information requiring a higher security clearance.

It’s a serious accusation, and it’s compounded by suspicions of him favoring Russia in his filtering of leak releases, but it’s still crazy the amount of time he’s been not-free because of something he hasn’t been tried or found guilty of.

This is an interesting issue, with multiple fronts:

• Spain has a large chunk of its GDP tied to tourism, but…
• Some places are getting overcrowded, like Ibiza, Barcelona, or Madrid, which discourages tourism.
• Having a large number or holiday apartments, increases housing prices for local residents…
• And causes noise issues during the holiday season…
• And makes it difficult for seasonal workers to find a place to live.
• While during the off-season, it leaves a lot of apartments unoccupied, making them an easy target for illegal occupation, with whole gangs living from it, which then require LEO resources to vacate them…
• And makes it extra difficult for local non-tourism businesses to survive…
• To the point that they’re converting business locals into… holiday apartments.

The plan to shut “all” holiday apartments is kind of a pipe dream, or part of populist politics… more so in Barcelona, where right now the recent elections have left Catalonia with parties so divided, that they can’t even agree on a viable candidate to lead it.

A slightly more realistic issue to tackle, are “illegal” holiday apartments that don’t pay the corresponding taxes. Some estimate that Madrid has a 10:1 ratio of illegal vs. registered holiday apartments.

But in general, there is currently no solution that would keep those apartments occupied all year round, without neighbor conflict, in areas that live mainly off seasonal tourism.

For example, Ibiza has 40K permanent residents, but capacity for 600K tourists, which leads to seasonal workers living in trailer parks, or even in their own cars.

In a country with [checks notes] a:

“Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives”

Let’s reflect for a moment on what it means to bunch all those things together.

Watching that ABA link is highly unnerving.

I’ve been offered behavioral therapy as an adult, but now I see that fortunately the psychiatrist in charge was dismissed before it would start. Later I learned that he wrote down I “don’t meet minimums”… and now I think I know what he meant: there was a session where I’m pretty sure he was trying me out, buy didn’t manage to provoke me. F-ing thank the FSM.

The only time I’ve done something remotely similar, was with a stray cat that wouldn’t stop attacking everyone: put her in a dark bathroom (with food, water, and a litter box), turning the light only every few hours to offer her to come out to me. Took the stubborn thing 3 days to make up her mind… and from then on she became a fluffy ball with just the occasional minor outburst. I still admit that was basically torture… except the alternative was to either throw her out back onto the street, or give to a shelter with a 24-hour “no adoption, no cat” policy.

It’s hard to believe anyone would advocate doing something like that to a person.

[Not defending Israel] As a rule of thumb, I wouldn’t trust the word of an interested party in accusing the other party.

Maybe they had 7 hostages and Israel killed 3, or maybe Israel released 4 and Hamas killed the rest, or maybe those 3 were killed earlier for whatever reason, or anything in between.