Odd looking "self.advertisingProcess" in Console

[AdiosVista]

I was taking a look around console today and noticed some activity to looks strange to me, though I admittedly don't know much when it comes to console. The process is useractivityd and here is the message I see:

-- Demoting self.advertisingProcess to nil (was UserActivityClient(pid=REDACTED/com.apple.Safari uuids={REDACTED})) and trigger pickNewAdvertisement because the previous advertisingProcess had a current activity.

I redacted some details that I thought might be sensitive info. I also noticed that this process will appear every time I use Safari and then click away to another app (the finder, desktop, etc.).

What in the world is this? I can't seem to find any info Googling. Thanks for your time.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I found similar in my Console. I am not concerned.

 

[AdiosVista]

I found similar in my Console. I am not concerned.

Thanks for the reply. Any idea what the message means though? I can't find any decent articles related to self.advertisingProcess.

 

[Weaselboy]

Thanks for the reply. Any idea what the message means though? I can't find any decent articles related to self.advertisingProcess.

From looking at it in Console it looks like it has something to do with advertising your wifi presence locally. My system shows it also and it appears normal.

 

[AdiosVista]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I really appreciate your time.

In digging further, I was seeing similar Console messages that also pointed to specific URLs, like bluekai.com, ziffdavis.com, servebom.com, and others.

I then opened Safari's Privacy preferences, clicked the "Manage Website Data" button, and see these URLs listed as cached sites.

I'm assuming these are "normal" and come from any sites running Google ads (such as macrumors). However, it would put my mind at ease if someone could please check their cache as well and let me know if this is in fact normal.

A quick test I was going: cleared all cache, loaded a page I knew had google ads (like this one), then when I checked Safari cache again I would see those strange URLs.

 

[Weaselboy]

Yeah... that is all normal adtracking junk. I use an app called Cookie to delete that stuff. You setup the app to whitelist cookies and data for sites you visit, then the app deletes everything else like that ad junk every time you quit Safari.

https://cookie5app.com

 

[AdiosVista]

Yeah... that is all normal adtracking junk. I use an app called Cookie to delete that stuff. You setup the app to whitelist cookies and data for sites you visit, then the app deletes everything else like that ad junk every time you quit Safari.

https://cookie5app.com

Phew, thanks so much for confirming, you've been a big help! Have a great week.