CHAPTER 3· THE INTERNET MACRO-ENVIRONMENT
First-party cookies– served by the site currently in use, typical for e-commerce sites.
These can be persistent or session cookies;
Third-party cookies– served by another site to the one being viewed, typical for portals
where an ad network will track remotely or where the web analytics software places a
cookie. These are typically persistent cookies.
Cookies are stored as individual text files in a directory on a personal computer. There is
usually one file per web site. For example: [email protected]. This file contains
encoded information as follows:
FLT_VIS |K:bapzRnGdxBYUU|D:Jul-25-1999| british-airways.com/ 0 425259904 29357426
1170747936 29284034 *
The information in the cookie file is essentially just an identification number and a date of the
last visit although other information can be stored.
Cookies are specific to a particular browser and computer, so if a user connects 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.What are cookies used for?
Common marketing applications of cookies include:
Personalising 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 annoyance 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 recognise returning visitors and can recommend related books
purchased by other readers. This approach generally has good 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).
Online ordering systems. This enables a site such as Tesco.com to track what is in your
basket as you order different products.
Tracking within a site. Web analytics software such as Webtrends (www.webtrends.com)
which analyses statistics on visitors to web sites relies on persistent cookies to find the
proportion of repeat visitors to a web site. Webtrends and other tools increasingly use first-
party cookies since they are more accurate and less likely to be blocked. Marketers should
check whether use of first-party cookies is possible on their site.
Tracking across sites. Advertising networks use cookies to track the number of times a
particular computer user has been shown a particular banner advertisement; they can also
track adverts served on sites across an ad network. There was an individual rights outcry in
the late 1990s since Doubleclick was using this to profile customers. Doubleclick no longer
operates an ad network, partly due to this.
Affiliate networks and pay-per-click ad networks such as Google Adwords and Yahoo! Search
services (Overture) may also use cookies to track through from a click on a third-party site to a
sale or lead being generated on a destination or merchant site. These approaches tend to use
third-party cookies. For example, if conversion tracking is enabled in Google Adwords, Google
sets a cookie when a user clicks through on an ad. If this user buys the product, then the
purchase confirmation page will include script code supplied by Google to make a check for a
cookie placed by Google. If there is a match, the sale is attributed to Adwords. An alternative
approach using third-party tracking is that different online campaigns have different tracking
parameters or codes within the links through to the destination site and when the user arrives
on a site from a particular source (such as Google Adwords) this is identified and a cookie set.First-party cookies
Served by the site
currently in use –
typical for e-commerce
sites.
Third-party cookies
Served by another site
to the one being viewed
- typical for portals
where an ad network
will track remotely or
where the web
analytics software
places a cookie.