[Theodores]

Here is an example for you:

   (function(h,o,t,j,a,r){
        h.hj=h.hj||function(){(h.hj.q=h.hj.q||[]).push(arguments)};
        h._hjSettings={hjid:1,hjsv:5};
        a=o.getElementsByTagName('head')[0];
        r=o.createElement('script');r.async=1;
        r.src=t+h._hjSettings.hjid+j+h._hjSettings.hjsv;
        a.appendChild(r);
    })(window,document,'//static.hotjar.com/c/hotjar-','.js?sv=');

https://docs.hotjar.com/v1.0/docs/understanding-the-tracking...

I believe that Google set a trend, 'HotJar' is a newbie on the block. If anyone can find an example that predates 'urchin.js' (or wherever this started) please share!

[tmm]

I don't know where it started for software, but I can give you an example that predates the web.

In the 80s and early 90s my mother was an interior designer at a high end furniture store. There were no prices on the floor models because most things could be customized (fabric, arm shape, wood, etc) before delivery. However there was a base price that the designer could use to (I guess) keep people within their budget.

They used a ten-letter isogram to print the base price covertly on the furniture labels so that associates could figure it out without going to the back office and looking it up in the computer.

The last word I remember them using was Cumberland. C=0, d=9. So if the base price for a dining room table was $15,840 the tag would have urnec written on it somewhere.

[dsfyu404ed]

Used car dealers do that. There's usually an alphanumeric that tells the salesperson how much they paid for the car and some other stuff.

[kamakazizuru]

that's the kinds of insightful comments I come here for. Side note, I remember in a gift / greeting card shop growing up, everything had long numbers printed on a little sticker on the back, turns out the price was just the last 4 numbers (divided by 1000).