Survey: Net Users Easing Up on the Cookie Hate

By Zachary Rodgers | April 27, 2006

Marketers expressed some dismay last year when a series of studies found a previously unmeasured hatred for cookies in the heart of many an Internet user -- and a common predilection to delete them.

People worried by that discovery can perhaps breathe a little easier in the wake of a new survey finding that only 8 percent of respondents delete cookies "very frequently," compared with 18 percent in a 2004 survey. Additionally, 24 percent said they never delete cookies, more than double what was measured in the previous study.

The poll of 1,700 Internet users was conducted by The Ponemon Institute and sponsored by behavioral targeting vendor Revenue Science.

The study also examined consumer perceptions of and desire for relevant advertising targeted to their interests. Sixty-three percent said online marketers should "always" grasp their interests before advertising to them. Fifty-five percent said Web advertising suited to their interests "improves" or "greatly improves" their overall online experience. And 86 percent would rather accept relevant advertising than pay for content, a lift of 7 percent from the 2004 research.

While the findings would seem to indicate a growing consumer acceptance of ads targeted on behavior, the survey did not explicitly ask how Web users feel about ads served based on previous surfing habits.

But the results do suggest a markedly improved perception of cookies from what JupiterResearch measured a year ago, when almost 40 percent of Internet users told the analyst firm they delete cookies on at least a monthly basis.

That finding sparked widespread concern that the unique user counts and reach metrics for many sites and interactive campaigns were inflated, while frequency metrics were lowballed. It also raised worries that behavioral targeting could fall short of its great expectations.

Many believed the fear and loathing of cookies was driven by consumer concern over the threat of spyware and the blanket use of that term to describe a variety of Web measurement techniques, including these ubiquitous little text files.

Additionally, a number of anti-spyware companies had at the time begun referring to cookies as spyware, clumping them in with the same company as the shady perpetrators of drive-by ActiveX adware downloads.

"There are always privacy concerns. For example, when you're tracking someone's behavior, there's that old feeling: What's really going on?" said Larry Ponemon, founder of the Ponemon Institute. "But people are starting to accept the fact that they have anonymity, and the anonymity gives them comfort."

New IAB Research Shows 12% Of Web Users Reject Cookies

THE INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING BUREAU IS again considering launching a lobbying and/or advertising campaign on behalf of cookies, OnlineMediaDaily has learned.


New research commissioned by the IAB and presented at its board meeting this week shows that as many as 12 percent of consumers don't accept third-party cookies--that is, the cookies set by ad servers and analytics companies that track the Web sites that consumers visit and the ads they view, among other data.

The IAB board this week discussed the possibility of conducting some sort of public awareness campaign designed to educate Web users about how publishers and advertisers actually use cookies. Last year, the IAB planned to work with Safecount--an organization formed last April by Carat Fusion executive (and MediaPost "Online Spin" columnist) Cory Treffiletti and Dynamic Logic president Nick Nyhan--to promote cookies to consumers.

Instead, the IAB reportedly decided to wait for more information--including data showing whether cookie deletions and rejections are increasing over time, holding steady, or declining. Even now, the organization might still wait to determine whether rejections increase before launching a promotional effort.

Greg Stuart, CEO of the IAB, declined to comment.

The IAB's research was based on observations of consumer behavior, as opposed to asking consumers whether they accept cookies--methodology criticized in the past on the grounds that consumers are not necessarily aware of how their computers treat cookies. Although a 12 percent rejection rate appears high, it's consistent with at least some other research; last year, analytics company WebTrends also reported that around 12 percent of consumers delete cookies.

The extent of cookie deletions or rejections by consumers has been debated since March 2005, when Jupiter Research reported that 39 percent of consumers delete cookies at least monthly. At the time, the research roiled many industry executives, who had long assumed that consumers ignored cookies.