[privacy] The Case of the Disappearing Cookies

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () bsf-llc com>]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/15/technology/15drill.html?_r=1
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/15/technology/15drill.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&;
pagewanted=print> &oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
 
May 15, 2006
Drilling Down

The Case of the Disappearing Cookies 

By ALEX MINDLIN

Tiny files called "cookies" are the lifeblood of online advertising. Left on
visitors' computers, they help Web sites track how many visitors they have,
and how often they return - numbers crucial for determining the value of a
site's ad space.

So advertisers got worried in 2000 when privacy advocates began denouncing
cookies. Soon after, antispyware programs started identifying cookies and
offering to delete them. In 2004, 18 percent of people who knew what cookies
were said they deleted them very frequently, according to a study by Revenue
Science, which helps advertisers find online audiences. A survey in
December, 2005 reported a drop in that figure, to 8 percent.

But more recent studies have been less cheerful for advertisers. A February
report by JupiterResearch found that 41 percent of male Internet users and
25 percent of women manually deleted cookies at least once a week. Those
figures would be even higher if they included people who used antispyware
programs to delete cookies automatically. ALEX MINDLIN

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