Becoming a networking expert will also make you an expert in troubleshooting everything else in the IT stack from web servers not turned on to database queries causing high CPU usage. All because when something goes wrong it's the network fault.
Some run solo instances on single board computers like Raspberry Pi.
In reality what you need for a Lemmy instance is a 24/7 machine, a domain, and preferably a static IP from your ISP. But you can get around the last one by using something like CloudFlare Tunnels.
I could be wrong but impression seems like something very easy to fake so as an advertiser you would like something more concrete then just 'We showed your ad X amount of times.'
There is a fun thing in astronomy where Neptune or Uranus was discovered by a mathematical proof rather then direct observation. 2 people had the same idea but one letter arrived a day earlier and they got credit for the discovery.
I would switch that around. It has no impact on the world at large but boy would it annoy the crap out of some people.
I remember reading that because of KYC you can effectively lock people out of their crypto wallets by having your own wallet associated with something illegal and sending that person some money.
Now because the person receiving the funds doesn't know who you are, they can't prove the person sending them money is legit and therefore can't unlock their accounts.
Escalate the call until you get to a human.
Take records when SD fail to meet SLA and demand compensation as part of your agreement.
The best one I saw was demand support in your local non english language