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Chapter 4 E-environment 219

Box 4.4 Understanding cookies

A ‘cookie’ is a data file placed on your computer that identifies the individual computer.
Cookie derives from the Unix operating system term ‘magic cookie’ which meant
something passed between routines or programs that enables the receiver to perform
some operation.

Types of cookies
The main cookie types are:
Persistent cookies Persistent cookies – these stay on a user’s computer between multiple sessions
Cookies that remain on and are most valuable for marketers to identify repeat visits to sites.
the computer after a
visitor session has ended. Temporary or session cookies – single session – useful for tracking within pages
Used to recognize of a session such as on an e-commerce site.
returning visitors.
First-party cookies – served by the site you are currently using – typical for
e-commerce sites. These can be persistent or session cookies.
Session cookies
Cookies used to manage Third-party cookies – served by another site to the one you are viewing – typical
a single visitor session. for portals where an ad network will track remotely or where the web analytics soft-
ware places a cookie. These are typically persistent cookies.
First-party cookies
Served by the site you Cookies are stored as individual text files in a directory on a personal computer. There
are currently using –
typical for e-commerce is usually one file per web site. For example: dave_chaffey@british-airways.txt. This file
sites. contains encoded information as follows:

Third-party cookies FLT_VIS |K:bapzRnGdxBYUU|D:Jul-25-1999| british-airways.com/ 0
Served by another site to 425259904 293574 26 1170747936 29284034 *
the one you are viewing –
typical for portals where The information in the cookie file is essentially just an identification number and a date
an ad network will track
remotely or where the of the last visit, although other information can be stored.
web analytics software Cookies are specific to a particular browser and computer, so if a user connects
places a cookie.
from a different computer such as at work or starts using a different browser, the web
site will not identify him or her as a similar user.
Browser suppliers are keen to protect users’ online privacy as part of their value
proposition and in 2008 we saw the launch of Internet Explorer 8 and its InPrivate
feature and Google Chrome with its Incognito mode. These are intended for temporary
use for a session where someone is browsing sites they don’t want others in the family

or office to know about. They won’t delete previous cookies, but new permanent
cookies won’t be created in these situations. This will compound many of the prob-
lems of tracking described below.
What are cookies used for?
Common marketing applications of cookies include:

A Personalizing a site for an individual. Cookies are used to identify individual users
and retrieve their preferences from a database according to an identifier stored in
the cookie.
For example, I subscribe to the E-consultancy service (www.e-consultancy.com)
for the latest information about e-business; each time I return I do not have the annoy-
ance of having to log in because it remembers my previous visit. Many sites feature a
‘Remember Me’ option which implies using a cookie to remember a returning visitor.
Retailers such as Amazon can use cookies to recognize returning visitors and can
recommend related books purchased by other readers. This approach generally has
benefits for both the individual (it is a hassle to sign in again and relevant content can
be delivered) and the company (tailored marketing messages can be delivered).