New Indicator: Number of sites accepting bitcoin

[teukon]

Does anyone have a reasonable estimation for how many sites accept Bitcoin but which are not on the list?  I've known about goshrine.com for a while but recently have been running into other examples such as f-droid.org, brainworkshop.sourceforge.net, and thepythongamebook.com.

Is there a separate list for sites using Bitcoin for donations?

[1714806753]

1714806753

[1714806753]

1714806753

[scribe]

Still got this on the radar, but realistically ot got time to do much development at the moment. Any PHP devs willing to lend a hand? Feels like there's some potential for at least tracking wiki usage...

I've put the code on github here if so:

https://github.com/exmosis/btc-wiki-trader-count

Will do some if I have time/mojo, but things pretty busy these days...

- scribe

[bb113]

what was the problem with it? Here is one in R that should work as long as the wiki doesn't change too much, I dont know how to host it though.:

Code:

require(RCurl)
require(XML)
require(ggplot2)


remove.list<-c(
  "Getting started","Currency exchanges", "Financial",
  "Bitcoin eWallets","Bitcoin payment systems"
)


old.results<-read.table("old_results.txt", header=T)


new.data<-getURLContent("https://en.bitcoin.it/w/index.php?title=Trade&action=edit",
                        ssl.verifypeer = FALSE, useragent = "R"
)

new.data<-readLines(tc <- textConnection(new.data)); close(tc)

categories<-as.data.frame(cbind(
  grep(pattern="^==[A-Z]",new.data),
  new.data[grep(pattern="^==[A-Z]",new.data)]
))

categories[,1]<-as.numeric(as.character(categories[,1]))

entries=NULL
for(i in 1:(nrow(categories)-1)){
  selected.cat<-new.data[categories[i,1]:categories[i+1,1]]
  rem.headers.step1<-selected.cat[grep(pattern="/(*)",selected.cat)]
  
  if(length(grep(pattern="^==",rem.headers.step1))==0){
    rem.headers.step2<-rem.headers.step1
  }else{
    rem.headers.step2<-rem.headers.step1[-grep(pattern="^==",rem.headers.step1)]
  }
  
  out<-cbind(selected.cat[1],length(rem.headers.step2))
  entries<-rbind(entries,out)
}

entries<-as.data.frame(entries)
entries[,2]<-as.numeric(as.character(entries[,2]))
entries[,1]<-gsub("==","",entries[,1])
entries<-entries[which(entries[,2]>0),]
entries<-cbind(rep(format(Sys.time(), "%b %y"),nrow(entries)),entries)


new.results<-entries[-which(entries[,2] %in% remove.list),]
colnames(new.results)<-c("Date","Category","Number")

try(
  new.results<-rbind(old.results,new.results)
)
rownames(new.results)<-1:nrow(new.results)

qplot(Date,Number, data=new.results, geom="bar", fill= Category)+ 
  opts(title=c("Number of BTC Accepting Merchants \n (en.bitcoin.it/wiki/trade)"))

png("newchart.png")
qplot(Date,Number, data=new.results, geom="bar", fill= Category)+ 
  opts(title=c("Number of BTC Accepting Merchants \n (en.bitcoin.it/wiki/trade)"))
dev.off()


write.table(new.results, "old_results.txt")

Produces (with made up February data to show it could update automatically):

Code:

"Date" "Category" "Number"
"1" "Jan 13" "Internet & Mobile services" 203
"2" "Jan 13" "Online products" 126
"3" "Jan 13" "Material / Physical Products" 219
"4" "Jan 13" "Professional services" 86
"5" "Jan 13" "Commerce and community" 49
"6" "Jan 13" "Travel / Tourism / Leisure " 31
"7" "Feb 13" "Internet & Mobile services" 105
"8" "Feb 13" "Online products" 86
"9" "Feb 13" "Material / Physical Products" 98
"10" "Feb 13" "Professional services" 99
"11" "Feb 13" "Commerce and community" 92
"12" "Feb 13" "Travel / Tourism / Leisure " 84

And this:

[scribe]

what was the problem with it? Here is one in R that should work as long as the wiki doesn't change too much, I dont know how to host it though.:

R? nice

Check back through the thread for other requests, but the things I had in mind was stuff like:

- ignore/merge/map sections on the wiki page for when they got reorganised
- fix the HighCharts output which I think has too much stuff in (doesn't show for me anyway) - see http://www.exmosis.net/btctt/highchart.php
- count across different language versions, eg. take the German page into account as well, to get a more global view on activity

Hosting on github is pretty easy - sign up, download the GUI, start a new repo, copy files in. Something like that Happy to help via PM, or might just put a copy up in my repo for reference.

[Spaceman_Spiff]

How informative is this data?  I mean, Bitpay says it has over 2000 merchants right? 

[Spekulatius]

How informative is this data?  I mean, Bitpay says it has over 2000 merchants right? 

And thats all they say about it. They dont want to get anymore specific then that. So we dont know WHO those merchants are, if they are the same outlets only with multiple accounts and IF they even exist. Its a claim after all, that has not been backed up with facts.
I think it is also important to not only rely on one single source, but all available and veryfiable information there is.


@ bitcoinbitcoin123 & scribe: Thanks for the effort! Looks great! Maybe you guys can work out something with the functionality of scribe's earlier builds and the appeal of high charts or similar? I trust in you! ❤

[bb113]

Ok, I modified it to get all the historical data:





The following categories were renamed (effectively merging them). The new name is on the right:
"Bitcoin paymennt systems"<-"Bitcoin payment systems"
"Currency exchange"<-"Currency exchanges"
"Hotels."<-"Hotels"
"Material products"<-"Material / Physical Products"
"Travel / Tourism "<-"Travel / Tourism / Leisure "
"Hotels"<-"Travel / Tourism / Leisure "
"Internet services"<-"Internet &amp; Mobile services"
"Professional Services"<-"Professional services"
"Sex related services"<-"Adult"

[Spaceman_Spiff]

the drops are wiki updates?

[bb113]

the drops are wiki updates?

Every data point corresponds to a wiki update. Drops are probably people culling the lists/ vandalism

[Spekulatius]

Ok, I modified it to get all the historical data:





The following categories were renamed (effectively merging them). The new name is on the right:
"Bitcoin paymennt systems"<-"Bitcoin payment systems"
"Currency exchange"<-"Currency exchanges"
"Hotels."<-"Hotels"
"Material products"<-"Material / Physical Products"
"Travel / Tourism "<-"Travel / Tourism / Leisure "
"Hotels"<-"Travel / Tourism / Leisure "
"Internet services"<-"Internet &amp; Mobile services"
"Professional Services"<-"Professional services"
"Sex related services"<-"Adult"

Ok thanks. Now we only have to make it a little prettier 

Why did you rename the categories??

[bb113]

Ok, I modified it to get all the historical data:





The following categories were renamed (effectively merging them). The new name is on the right:
"Bitcoin paymennt systems"<-"Bitcoin payment systems"
"Currency exchange"<-"Currency exchanges"
"Hotels."<-"Hotels"
"Material products"<-"Material / Physical Products"
"Travel / Tourism "<-"Travel / Tourism / Leisure "
"Hotels"<-"Travel / Tourism / Leisure "
"Internet services"<-"Internet &amp; Mobile services"
"Professional Services"<-"Professional services"
"Sex related services"<-"Adult"

Ok thanks. Now we only have to make it a little prettier 

Why did you rename the categories??

Because the categories and names used in the wiki changed over time. After I renamed them its pretty consistent. Perhaps there were more mergers that I missed.

[bb113]

- ignore/merge/map sections on the wiki page for when they got reorganised
- fix the HighCharts output which I think has too much stuff in (doesn't show for me anyway) - see http://www.exmosis.net/btctt/highchart.php
- count across different language versions, eg. take the German page into account as well, to get a more global view on activity

Someone needs to check the categories in my chart and see which (if any) should be merged with the current set of categories on the page. Also someone needs to go to the forum language versions and tell which english they correspond to:

eg:
Currency exchanges<-Exchange-Plattformen / elektronische Börsen

I think this chart could have promise for setting a lower bound on number of merchants once that is done.

[sethsethseth]

If someone knows how to fix the map of Real World Shops to use https google maps that would be great.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Real_world_shops

[scribe]

Nice job, bitcoinbitcoin113 - and is it possible to automate to generate an auto-updating image file? This was Spekulatius' other request to make the job a little easier.

On a side note, I did like Spek's summary of 'interesting new entries' too, would love to see more of that...

[bb113]

Nice job, bitcoinbitcoin113 - and is it possible to automate to generate an auto-updating image file? This was Spekulatius' other request to make the job a little easier.

On a side note, I did like Spek's summary of 'interesting new entries' too, would love to see more of that...

The script will automatically create an updated chart every time it is run. I don't know how to do this then have it update the image on a webpage though.

[Spekulatius]

On a side note, I did like Spek's summary of 'interesting new entries' too, would love to see more of that...

Thx scribe Will do once a month. If you like you can post in this thread as well if you like and I will paste your reviews on the front page.

----------

Concerning the new graph: I think it provides a better understanding when the categories on it and on the list share the same names. Otherwise it is unclear what entries in the list are combined in what category in the graph.

[bb113]

On a side note, I did like Spek's summary of 'interesting new entries' too, would love to see more of that...

Thx scribe Will do once a month. If you like you can post in this thread as well if you like and I will paste your reviews on the front page.

----------

Concerning the new graph: I think it provides a better understanding when the categories on it and on the list share the same names. Otherwise it is unclear what entries in the list are combined in what category in the graph.

What list?

[Spekulatius]

On a side note, I did like Spek's summary of 'interesting new entries' too, would love to see more of that...

Thx scribe Will do once a month. If you like you can post in this thread as well if you like and I will paste your reviews on the front page.

----------

Concerning the new graph: I think it provides a better understanding when the categories on it and on the list share the same names. Otherwise it is unclear what entries in the list are combined in what category in the graph.

What list?

The one on https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade

[bb113]

On a side note, I did like Spek's summary of 'interesting new entries' too, would love to see more of that...

Thx scribe Will do once a month. If you like you can post in this thread as well if you like and I will paste your reviews on the front page.

----------

Concerning the new graph: I think it provides a better understanding when the categories on it and on the list share the same names. Otherwise it is unclear what entries in the list are combined in what category in the graph.

What list?

The one on https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade

So how do you propose we deal with people who edit the wiki merging categories in the past to get what we have now? I think there may be a miscommunication somewhere.

[Spekulatius]

On a side note, I did like Spek's summary of 'interesting new entries' too, would love to see more of that...

Thx scribe Will do once a month. If you like you can post in this thread as well if you like and I will paste your reviews on the front page.

----------

Concerning the new graph: I think it provides a better understanding when the categories on it and on the list share the same names. Otherwise it is unclear what entries in the list are combined in what category in the graph.

What list?

The one on https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade

So how do you propose we deal with people who edit the wiki merging categories in the past to get what we have now? I think there may be a miscommunication somewhere.

Not quite sure I understand you, but if you are concerned about getting the correct historic values for the categories, pls see my own list from the front page: http://dfiles.eu/files/utggvq80h