Very often there is a difference between how far you are along the article, versus how far you are down the actual page, especially if the page has a large foot

Very often there is a difference between how far you are along the article, versus how far you are down the actual page, especially if the page has a large footer, additional advertising down there, and an unmoderated comments section. In the latter case, the actual text can end less than half way down the page. So the additional indicator, when used wisely, can actually have a valid use case.