WebMaster Solutions

Web Site Marketing

Cookies as a Marketing Tool

by Kenneth Catto

Cookies are perhaps the most intensely debated internet marketing tool today. Chances are you do not trust cookies and are wary of them, or you’re not sure what they are.

Lou Montulli a former Netscape Communications employee developed cookies. Netscape referred to this process as “State Management” since they introduce a state to the stateless HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer protocol). The name Cookie was derived from UNIX objects called Magic Cookies.

Cookies are ID’s assigned to your browser by a server and stored in a text file on your hard drive. Whenever you visit a web site your browser requests the sites pages from the server where the site is hosted. This server then assigns a unique ID to your browser, which can be used to collect information and store for later use.

Companies are now able to target users and segment them on the basis of their browsing habits. Not only commercial firms find this information very useful, but federal web sites are tracking their users too. There are more than 60 federal sites currently using cookies.

Your age, occupation, lifestyle, income level, marital status, and buying preferences can be gathered using cookies. How this information is used, depends on the individual companies collecting the information. They can use cookies to better design their products and services thereby reducing the gap between your expectations and the value their product delivers.

Cookies also allow customization of the site you are visiting, say you prefer a particular type of music or have a specific interest that is recognized by the sites marketer. Your next visit to the site can be customized playing that particular music or maybe by showing you stories related to your interest. Special discounts or custom buying options can be offered to you, making your experience unique and more enjoyable at this site.

There is a huge debate as to whether cookies are an infringement on your privacy. There are a lot of companies that have misused this information collection tool. Hence, sometimes it appears that cookies are an evil built into the internet. This is however not the complete picture.

Every time you are asked whether you want to accept or reject a cookie, try to read the policy of that site only then decide whether to reject or accept their cookie. The web site is responsible for conveying their policies and to make it clear as to whether the company will share or sell their database to other companies etc.

Cookies can definitely enhance your viewer experience and so they must be allowed while browsing. However, certain caution may help you ward off any unpleasant experience. You must pay attention as to how the information you convey will be used by the site.

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