OrdinaryGlow reader-count preferences

Optional recent-reader counter

Separately from Google Analytics and advertising, OrdinaryGlow offers an optional first-party counter on articles published through its Writer Studio. It helps each writer see recent visits to their own articles. It is disabled until you choose “Allow reader counting.” Declining does not restrict access to any article.

After consent, we create a random first-party, Secure, HttpOnly cookie named __Host-og-recent-reader. It expires after 30 minutes without a counted visit. The separate __Host-og-recent-choice cookie stores only yes or no for 30 minutes. Our counter stores only a hash of the random value, the article and writer identifiers, and the visit time. It does not store IP addresses, user-agent strings, page-query parameters, account details or browser fingerprints. Infrastructure providers may maintain their own operational/security logs.

A browser is counted once across one writer’s articles in the preceding 30 minutes; shared browsers or cleared cookies can change this estimate. It is not a count of people still reading and will differ from Google Analytics. Only visits after consent are included. Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track disables this optional counter. There are no heartbeat requests.

Counts expire exactly 30 minutes after a visit. Expired live records are deleted on collection/report requests and by a cleanup job scheduled every 5 minutes; service outages can delay deletion, and provider backups have separate retention. Writers receive aggregate counts for their own articles only; the Owner can see aggregate counts across Studio articles. Reader identifiers are never displayed or sent to Studio.

You can withdraw below or on any participating article. Withdrawal stops further collection, clears the counter cookie, and requests deletion of this browser’s recent counter records. It does not change Google Analytics or advertising preferences.