I've often wondered why there are so few server-side log parsing libraries (for the likes of Nginx and Apache). Putting that 1x1 pixel image on your front end and serving it from a host that only collects and aggregates anonymous logs about pageviews of each URL would be the best simple analytics most Web site owners would need. Basically the Netlify analytics without the $9 /month/site price tag.

(Yes, it would obviously need a bit more than just a log parser but that would be the easy part, IMO. Separate the backend from the front and let JS folks write their own UI for This Weeks New JS Framework. Maybe you could even use PiratePx as the frontend.)