Cookies

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What are cookies?

A cookie is a small piece of text that a web server can save on the hard drive of a user. Cookies enable a website to store data on a user's computer and retrieve it later. In simpler terms, internet cookies are small files that a website can store on the machine or device of a visitor. They will keep track of a person's online behavior, recognizing who they are, what they want, and what they've done previously. Publishers and third parties often use web cookies to monitor users and their activities (Cahn et al., 2016). Cookies can be used to detect when a visitor arrives at a website and what they do once they've arrived. This knowledge can then be used to customize the visitor's experience when they return, automatically modifying a site to fit their tastes (LeadForensics, no date). 

Why do businesses use cookies? 

Cookies are widely used, and one of their main advantages for companies is that they can help provide valuable and comprehensive information on site visitors' behavior. When it comes to creating a rapport with a target audience and potential clients, the data collected can be used to create a more personalized, intimate, and enjoyable experience.

Although cookies can be useful for a business they can also harm a business’ working in many ways. Following are the advantages and disadvantages of using cookies.

Advantages 

  • They make it simple for web designers to conduct long-term user identification.
  • Cookies are one of the most basic ways to give users a more personalized web experience
  • Cookies can save information submitted on a form, such as names and other fields.  
  • They are supported by almost every scripting language including Cold Fusion, PHP, Javascript, JSP, ASP and Python (Santoyo, 2019)

Disadvantages 

  • Hackers may use private information to abuse cookies, such as stealing active cookies and then pretending to be that user (hijacking that user's session), (Park et al., 2000)
  • Websites can sell cookie information to third parties or use it to hack into social media accounts or other online accounts.
  • Website cookies are real files on your hard drive. The more often you visit, the more information is gathered. It can take up a lot of storage space on your computer/mobile device as it grows over time. 
The default setting in most browsers is to allow cookies. As a consequence, any time you visit the internet, cookies are stored “invisibly” on your local computer. As a result, the browsing history and IP address are available to the general public (Santoyo,2019). 

To conclude, when you use cookies on your website, you can give your visitors a more personalized and smoother experience. They allow popular website features like authentication and shopping carts, and the valuable data they collect when monitoring user behavior can be crucial when it comes to improving your marketing plan and engaging with consumers (McIntyre , 2005) Internet cookies will help you run a better website and provide you with useful business information if you use them correctly and follow the relevant privacy rules. For small and medium enterprises, this feature can be particularly useful to identify their loyal customers and give them a tailored visit to your website. However, it is essential to respect your user’s privacy and only extract the information that is relevant to your business. 


Author: Udit Shokeen 


#cookies #cookiesadvantages #cookiesdisadvantages #cookiesusefulness #cookiesinbusiness 

References

 

Cahn, A., Alfeld, S., Barford, P. and Muthukrishnan, S., 2016, April. An empirical study of web cookies. In Proceedings of the 25th international conference on world wide web (pp. 891-901).

LEADFORENSICS, Cookies - what are they and what are the rules for business websites using them?. [online] Available at: https://www.leadforensics.com/what-are-cookies-and-can-businesses-use-them/#:~:text=HowStuffWorks%20describes%20them%20as%3A%20'A,machine%20and%20later%20retrieve%20it.&text=Cookies%20can%20track%20when%20a,what%20they%20do%20once%20there.[Accessed 4 March 2021].

McIntyre, K., 2005. Why are cookies useful?. [online] Available at: https://www.cs.montana.edu/paxton/classes/ireland/presentations/kyle/cookies.php?page=why[Accessed 4 March 2021]. 

Park, J.S. and Sandhu, R., 2000. Secure cookies on the Web. IEEE internet computing, 4(4), pp.36-44.

Santoyo, V., 2019. Internet Cookies: What are they and are they good or bad. [online] Available at: https://blog.sucuri.net/2019/08/internet-cookies-what-are-they-and-are-they-good-or-bad.html [Accessed 4 March 2021].


Comments

  1. Sergio Augusto12 March 2021 at 02:07

    Cookies have been broadly discussed recently, Udit. Super important to bring this kind of content in a different perspective. Definitely, independent businesses that have their own digital platform should be aware of these specific characteristics of how to collect data from their consumers/users.

    There are things that worry me at the moment though. For example, to what extent is the identity of users protected? Are businesses letting them aware they have been analysed constantly every time users visit their website?

    Cookies are a really interesting way of understanding the impact of a product towards our consumers but there are aspects developers and business owners should be concerned.

    ReplyDelete
  2. James White13 March 2021 at 09:33

    I really enjoyed your blog post Udit. Cookies are a great way for businesses to learn about their customers preferences and make the user interface more friendly and easier to use. For SME’s this is a crucial step to better understand their customers needs and desires, which in turn will allow them to inform their marketing strategies and grow the business. The introduction of GDPR regulations have made the disadvantages of cookies that you mentioned less problematic for users. For businesses however, it is vital that they comply with these regulations both for ensuring trust with their customers and also to comply with EU law. Thanks for the information and looking forward to your next blog!

    James

    ReplyDelete
  3. Natassya Coelho14 March 2021 at 13:44

    Interesting, Udit. Besides, I would like to share a piece of information that I had read in a recent article about Google riding of the third-party cookies and it will have an enormous impact on business. Google is now reshaping how to advertising online. It happened because of the growth in data privacy standards in Europe and the United States.
    Google said this is an initiative to protect users privacy and let them freely use the web. For, I think is important for companies to keep updated about this new information. According to Statista report (2021), it will impact directly in their marketing strategy once Google is the search engine most used for consumers in the world.
    Thank you for open up this discussion.

    ReplyDelete

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