LogFAQs > #970924912

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Granted, the poll here is anonymous so in this case they aren't necessarily getting specific personal info (unless GameFAQs is keeping track of how everyone votes in each poll and is also selling that data while keeping the fact that they can do that secret, which is entirely possible), but even without specificity they're still gaining data on overall trends and assumptions.

Yep. At the very least, we already know they collect data on where votes come from (since we can look at geographic data for results) and presumably what time each vote comes in, and those three points alone can reveal some useful trends. Toss in the very real possibility that results are not actually anonymous (we already know they track who has and has not voted to prevent duplicate votes) and they can corroborate one poll's results with others (age being a big one), and you can get some real value.

Of course, the real value of less than 10,000 poll results is kind of debatable, but that's the theory.