An Introduction to Cookies
Cookies are small text files that download to a user’s
browser as they use the internet. They are used to carry info about a user’s
interactions with a website. From the perspective of user interaction, cookies
allow more of a sense of personal connection upon visiting a website, as the
use of them allows a user’s interactions to be tracked and considered in future
visits.
Since the early 2000s internet users have been theoretically given the option to opt out of cookie-based tracking, but it was made very difficult to do, putting work on the user to figure out how to do so. Opt-out choices were also too easily made impermanent and force the user to repeat the time-consuming task again, until 2007 when regulations were tightened (Leta Jones and Lee, 2020)
The broad purpose of cookies is to collect and sort
information regarding the demographics with the strongest presence on a
website, and to mould targeting/marketing efforts to appeal as much as possible
to those demographics. If one was to delve slightly deeper into the
specificities of cookies, they would find that most all serve different
purposes, but tend to be placed within one of four different categories:
necessary cookies; preference cookies; statistics cookies, and marketing
cookies.
Necessary cookies are the cookies that are absolutely
required if the user is to utilise a website’s features as the host has
intended. In the world of e-commerce, this becomes apparent when cookies are used
to allow somebody to place items in their “cart”, to save in one place for
later purchase. These cookies are known as first-party session cookies.
Preference cookies, or functionality cookies
as they’re also known, are similar to necessary cookies in that their primary
focus is allowing the website’s basic functions to operate cohesively for a
fluid and efficient user experience. To get more specific, these cookies allow
for a user’s basic preferences to be met and taken into account in future
visits. Examples of these preferences could be the language the user wants to consume
the content in, and allowing the website to remember their log-in details for
quick future account access.
Statistics cookies (a.k.a performance cookies) are
the first on this list that teeter on the side of what some may consider
intrusive, but still offers complete anonymity. These cookies allow for the
measuring of statistics such as pages visited, links that are clicked, average
time spent on a page, the links that are clicked and number of pages per
session. Google analytics is heavily focused on this specific type of
information and is heavily relied upon for many to indicate how well or poorly
their website is performing.
Marketing cookies are the cookies that have sparked
the most controversy and reluctance in recent years, as they are used
specifically for the purpose of making marketing efforts more effective. In
these situations, user activity is tracked online and that information is used to
make marketing and advertising more relevant and personal. This information can
be shared with other advertisers, which is when they’re given the title of “persistent
cookies”.
The world of cookies, their benefits and implications is a
seemingly endless one, but perhaps this brief introduction to the topic will spark
interest in readers to further research the area, or even to expand on it in
the comments for the benefit of other users.
#cookies #data #targeting #marketing #personalisation
References
- Leta Jones, M. and Lee, J., 2020. Comparing Consent to Cookies: A Case for Protecting Non-Use. Cornell International Law Journal, p.105.
·
Kendal N. 2020, “Cookies”, asynchronous content,
Dublin Business School, week 4
Author: Deirbhile
ReplyDeleteBrowser fingerprinting is a new alternative method of tracking customers online instead of using cookies.
Much like cookies browser fingerprinting is created with individual scripts that are used to collect high levels of information about users, this information could be anything from what time zone the user is in, their language, and browser information they use. It can also be used to identify individuals out of the larger stream of browsers. What is unique to fingerprinting is the process in which it is run by scripts, which are a part of the legitimate functions of a website, so if an individual was to block them, the website might not function properly. So this creates an issue for users as there is no way for someone to know if or when a website is collecting this personal information due to the fact fingerprinting scripts are concealed in the usual running on of a website.
Fingerprinting can be used to follow an individual's browsers across multiple sites, which is then used to create a very accurate profile of their interests, personal information, and even the types of news preferences they might have.
Why this process is becoming increasingly more popular to use is because in comparison to cookies it is a much more secretive way to track customers. As the use of tracking cookies can only be done once the customer gives consent.
Author: Elizabeth Duffy
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, the results of an experiment by Google in 2019 found significant revenue loss averaging 52% when third-party data was disabled. "We ran a randomized controlled experiment on publishers who use the programmatic arm of Google Ad Manager’s serving system, in which a Google service places ads on non-Google sites across the web. We disabled access to cookies for a small fraction of randomly selected users (the treatment group). We observed that for the top 500 global publishers, average revenue in the treatment group decreased by 52%, with a 1 median per-publisher decline of 64%." (Google, 2019) It's a fascinating study which instead of looking at the consumer side, for example privacy concerns and personalised ads, which is most often discussed, it focuses on what that change would look like for businesses if they were to avoid third-party cookies for alternative methods. I hope with the development of technology a solution could be developed where the data is still harvested but where there is more control for the consumer than disabling third-party cookies completely.
References:
Google, 2019. Effect of disabling third-party cookies on publisher revenue. [online] Google, p.1. Available at: [Accessed 8 April 2021].