Why are businesses suddenly so interested in my blog page?

[Tarkus]

My page is intended to be viewed by a limited audience, so I signed up with Statcounter to track a few individuals. This worked fine for a while. However, not long after I installed my counter, my logs were being swamped with hits from cable companies, internet service firms and other corporations. Because of the nature of my page (a simple blog), it would never normally receive this kind of traffic (I think..) It never happened before, and I don't see why these companies would suddenly have any interest in my personal page.

Does Statcounter give my URL to third parties for some reason? If so, is there anything I can do about it? I realize that this would normally be advantageous, but the log is now almost useless for my intended purpose.

[webado]

Your blog is simply being indexed by search engines, big and small. ANy web site is subject to this. Except you never knew before you had Statcounter how much and how often.

[CaribbeanChoice]

Your website is being visited by individuals most likely. Remember, that customers of Time Warner's RoadRunner Cable Internet Service will have a domain name from that company. Customers who use an internet service provider (ISP) for dial-up or DSL will have a domain name from that company.

Examples:
dialup-4.240.159.xxx.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net (4.240.159.xxx)
A Customer of Level 3 Internet Service Provider. A home user or a small business.

xxx.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com (24.157.192.xxx)
A customer of Rogers Cable Company internet service. A home user or a small business.

adsl-215-241-xxx.aep.bellsouth.net (68.215.241.xxx)
A customer who uses BellSouth's DSL to access the internet. A home user or small business.

xxx.dyn.optonline.net (67.86.29.xxx)
A customer who uses Optonline for their Internet Access. A home user or small business.

These people are actually customers of the internet service providers (i.e. individuals at home or small offices most likely), not the employees of phone company, cable company or ISP itself.

Hope that clears things up. :)

[Aoide]

Also to add to CaribbeanChoice's explanation... if a person is surfing from their place of employment, that cooperation may show up. For instance my friend visits my page from her job at Exxon so I see Exxon as the source. This also happens if someone surfs from a university connection.