Fresh data for 2024 reveals that while overall pirate site traffic dipped to 216 billion visits, the landscape is shifting dramatically. Publishing piracy is booming, largely driven by an insatiable global demand for manga. In stark contrast, both music and film piracy have tanked. Despite these changes, the United States remains the top traffic source for pirate sites.
Most pirates in 2025 would be using private trackers or usenet and i doubt either are included in the stats this company gathers.
Its probably correct to say less public and open piracy sites are used these days, like the pirate bay or 1337x… Most no longer exist so its not hard to see why it would seem less popular.
What is a Usenet?
Its like torrenting except you download from a sever directly instead of a bunch of peers, there is no seeding and its always the fastest speed your connection allows.
Also some other stuff unrelated to piracy that will provably just make it sound more confusing then it really is.
@gwilikers @gravitywell take a look at https://usenet.rexum.space/docs/getting-started