Privacy, Security Concerns Equal Big Cookie Deletion: Report

Thanks largely to privacy and security concerns, over half of the Netizens surveyed delete tracking cookies and thus put a big crimp into Website operators’ ability to measure their online behavior, according to a new study released March 14 by JupiterResearch.

The report, “Measuring Unique Visitors: Addressing the Dramatic Decline in the Accuracy of Cookie-Based Measurement,” said 52 percent of Netizens surveyed showed “a strong interest” in stories about online privacy and security, while 38 percent believed cookies invade their privacy and security and 44 percent believed deleting the cookies would help protect them.

"Given the number of sites and applications that depend heavily on cookies for accuracy and functionality, the lack of this data represents significant risk for many companies," said Jupiter analyst Eric T. Peterson, announcing the new report, called “Measuring Unique Visitors: Addressing the Dramatic Decline in the Accuracy of Cookie-Based Measurement,” which says among other things that 58 percent of Netizens studied deleted cookies in 2004.

"Because personalization, tracking and targeting solutions require cookies to identify Web visitors over multiple sessions,” Peterson continued, “the accuracy of these solutions has become highly suspect, especially over longer periods of time."

The new study said up to 39 percent of Netizens may be deleting cookies each month, which Peterson compared to leaving site operators “flying blind.” Websites use cookies to track their visitors, personalize their sites, and measure how effective their marketing campaigns and site enhancements actually are. Deleting them, Jupiter said, severely compromises long-term measuring of consumer behavior.