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Media Coverage
"Following the Cookie Crumb Trail"
iMedia Connection
May 16, 2005
Here's a guide to our the coverage of the cookie controversy.
In mid March, when Jupiter Research released its findings on the percentage of consumers who delete cookies, the research company started a conversation akin to Miller Lite's "great taste, less filling" debate.
Here in iMedia, a number of writers have weighed in on the issue.
It started with Jupiter's announcement itself on March 14.
Privacy advocate Alan Chapell explored it further in his March 21 column, "Consumers Don't Bite the Cookies" Chapell reported the stats -- that two out of five internet users, or 40 percent, delete their cookies from their browsers -- and then explained how we got to this point and how the study is affecting marketers. "Assuming Jupiter's results are anywhere near correct, this could be as large a problem for the online industry as the data scandals are proving to be for the offline data world," he said.
Next, Editor at Large Masha Geller provided an update from Ad:Tech where Atlas quietly corrected the data in a report it compiled that initially showed Jupiter's cookie deletion numbers being too high; the new data confirmed Jupiter's numbers, even raising them a bit.
Geller also filled us in on the progress of Safecount.org, a coalition of 19 ad agencies and media companies launched on April 27th with a goal to preserve the cookie. Carat's Cory Treffiletti and Dynamic Logic's Nick Nyhan started the group in light of the current research. "Within a few days," writes Geller, "Safecount had the support of the likes of MSN, About.com and Carat."
On May 4, Media Strategies Editor Jim Meskauskas discussed what the latest issues regarding cookies mean for media planning. While acknowledging that the practice of consumers deleting cookies could be potentially harmful for the online marketing industry, Meskauskas presented the upside of the situation.
"It might be the case that by relying less heavily on data that has been called into question in light of the reports in recent weeks, advertisers and their agencies will develop smarter marketing that takes into account the aspects of a consumer's engagement that cannot be quantified," he said. "This could lead to marketing communications that seek to place the product or service within the construct of a consumer's life rather than in a form that interrupts or even obstructs it.
"Advertisers have to start thinking about their consumers as people rather than as click-streams."
Meskauskas revealed some of the solutions being bantered about to counteract the problem. These included technological programs, such as one being introduced by United Virtualities, and consumer education about the benefit of cookies.
Chapell advocates the latter, and revisited the cookie deletion issue in his May 9 column titled "Cookie Saga: Consumer Education Needed." Chapell asked the question: "What does [education] really mean? What is it about cookies that consumers are supposed to embrace?"
He goes on to say: "Maybe it's as simple as assuring people that cookies are not inherently bad, despite the insinuations of some of the anti-spyware software companies. Perhaps it's about educating consumers that an ad server recognizing that a particular desktop has visited the Tower Music website is not inherently creepy, while knowing that Alan visited the Tower Music store in the East Village might be. And maybe we need to disavow consumers of any notions of a correlation between online profiling and identity theft.
"But perhaps reassuring their safety is not enough of a benefit to move the needle," he added. "In other words, the real challenge may be in telling consumers how cookies make their lives (or at least their online experience) better."
Rich Person, chairman and CEO of Poindexter Systems, suggests the debate over cookies must go even further than deciding how to educate consumers. "Marketers need to understand that this isn't about cookie deletion or even data collection -- this is about relevance and control for consumers. And once we realize that and deliver upon its promise, then relevance will lead to an even greater amount of data," he said.
"While I agree that dialogue is good, I don't think a coalition or forum will move the needle fast enough or far enough for this issue to suit the consumer. We must stop spinning in ever increasing circles of studies by calling for a halt to the madness. Let's address the REAL problem -- not the symptoms. Cookies as they exist must evolve."
I'm sure the conversation about cookies will continue to evolve as well. Stay tuned to iMedia for the latest.
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