Yes, it's new. You can read more about it in this post.

kalina wrote:

Thanks, Sanya.

But i'm using the most basic flag counter, so i dont have a "Flag Counter Management " - meaning my visits will continue to count every single day? it doesnt make much sense :/
 

Same here. I noticed a change recently but for a few days thought I was getting an increase in visits, as opposed to my visits being recorded. I read your change (from cookies to unique IP address) but if the counter relies on an IP address then it should only count my IP address once as it is unique. I'll just watch & see if kalina's problem is resolved then decide what to do. 

Jeremy provided the solution here.