Cookies Are Yummy, Say Marketers

from the have-some-more dept

There was a study a few months back saying that a lot of people were regularly deleting their web cookies -- which freaked out a lot of marketers, insisting it couldn't be true. However, a second study later backed it up. So now, as Broadband Reports points out, marketers are trying to convince everyone that marketers are good for you. That's at least a better response that forcibly undeleting deleted cookies. To some extent, though, the marketers are right. Cookies do have a much worse reputation than they deserve -- and a good part of that is because of overzealous anti-spyware apps that name perfectly legitimate marketing cookies as spyware. So, a reasonable marketing campaign might make sense. Already, most legislation looking at spyware has been smart enough to not include cookies, but marketers are justifiably worried that if cookies continues to have such a negative reputation, it could create problems.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    thatguy, 20 Jun 2005 @ 10:36am

    privacy

    I think the bottom line is that cookies invade your privacy, period. Other websites or anyone with access to your computer can see what you've been looking up and doing and that is an invasion of privacy. This is still true even if the cookies are supposed to be doing good. This is why so many people want to delete their cookies.

    There are many other 'unfair' practices that come with using cookie technology. One of which is the LEGAL practice of altering the price of items for the people whom the websites have collected data on.

    I personally have a huge problem with paying more for an item because the company I'm buying it from knows that I probably want it so badly.

    The trust goes right out the window...

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.