Why does 13datacenter.com invoke google-analytics cookie?

[catleg]

Noticed today that the web pages of 13datacenter.com have the following code, apparently a tracking cookie for google analytics (and there are of course no adverts on 13datacenter.com):

<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-1457893-1");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script>

I can't think of a legitimate purpose for google to track my visits to 13datacenter.com, can you?

Just to be safe I'm going to implement the workaround mentioned here

[forgotten]

Just to be safe I'm going to implement the workaround mentioned here

Safe from what exactly?

[catleg]

From cross-site tracking.

[Majakat]

That is just analytics - they use it to see how many visit to their site, and where traffic is coming from - how long you stay, etc - it is basic website stats - not gathering anything personal

[researchnerd]

It's not Google tracking you, it's 13datacenter.com using Google Analytics. As Majakat mentioned, it does not collect any personally identifiable data, it just tracks how many visitors come to the site and where they go. Almost every website uses analytics tracking of some kind - including this one. Google Analytics is popular because it's free.

[StartinOver]

I have GA set up on a venue where I try to sell handmade items. GA lets me see what search terms brought someone to an item and then determine things like whether they looked and left or looked and the browsed more in the items, etc. I can't tell who they are, I can only tell roughly where they came in from (based on the system generically figuring out that the IP they are using was issued by such and such provider). It's really for the website owner to optimize the site to be more useful and attracting to potential visitors, not about messing around with those visitors directly. The visitors are totally anonymous within the GA data.

[catleg]

I just don't want ads for bankruptcy services showing up when I browse.

Sometimes you really don't want Google to connect the dots when you go to the 'wrong' websites. :-)