Tiny files called "cookies" are the lifeblood of online advertising. Left on visitors' computers, they help Web sites track how many visitors they have, and how often they return — numbers crucial for determining the value of a site's ad space.
So advertisers got worried in 2000 when privacy advocates began denouncing cookies. Soon after, antispyware programs started identifying cookies and offering to delete them. In 2004, 18 percent of people who knew what cookies were said they deleted them very frequently, according to a study by Revenue Science, which helps advertisers find online audiences. A survey in December, 2005 reported a drop in that figure, to 8 percent.
But more recent studies have been less cheerful for advertisers. A February report by JupiterResearch found that 41 percent of male Internet users and 25 percent of women manually deleted cookies at least once a week. Those figures would be even higher if they included people who used antispyware programs to delete cookies automatically.
By ALEX MINDLIN
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