Cookie

Cookie - An HTTP or Web cookie is a file that may be deposited by software on a Web page in the visitor's computer to record the time and date when the visitor accessed a page and other information.

Cookie Standard

The standard for HTTP Cookies is RFC 2965. The standard defines a mechanism for passing information from a Website to a user computer and for returning the stored information to the Website.

Origin of the term Cookie

According to an article written by Paul Bonner for Builder.Com on 11/18/1997:

"Lou Montulli, currently the protocols manager in Netscape's client product division, wrote the cookies specification for Navigator 1.0, the first browser to use the technology. Montulli says there's nothing particularly amusing about the origin of the name: 'A cookie is a well-known computer science term that is used when describing an opaque piece of data held by an intermediary. The term fits the usage precisely; it's just not a well-known term outside of computer science circles.'"

How Cookies Work

Cookies write a text string with the date and time, domain name and other information in a file that is saved on the visitor's computer. When the visitor returns to the Web site or a session is renewed, the cookie is read by the Javascript or other software and the information can be used for statistics, to check passwords and for other purposes.

Cookies can be used by statistics programs to determine if a visitor is a new visitor or a repeat visitor and whether or not that visitor is simply extending an existing visit or session beyond the 30 minute session period.  Cookies can be used to store information about items in online shopping carts, and about Web sites that were visited by the user. 

Cookie Privacy Issues

Because cookies can collect information about sites you have visited and choices you have made and transmit them back to Web sites, they have raised concerns about privacy, especially when they are used by US government security agencies like the CIA. The United States government  and European Union have regulations regarding the use of cookies by their agencies, but these are not always enforced.

Third Party Cookies

When a visitor opens a Web page, that page can deposit a cookie with its own domain name written in it. That is a "first party cookie." The visitor is the second party. However, the site may also have installed tracking software that deposits a cookie with a different domain name in it.

If you visit www.widgets.com and the domain of the cookie it places on your computer is www.widgets.com, then this is a first-party cookie. If, however, you visit www.widgets.com and the cookie placed on your computer says www.stats-for-free.com, this is a third-party cookie. Third party cookies have legitimate uses in Web counters, for example.

Security Vulnerability of Cookies

Usernames and other sensitive information may be stored and transmitted in non-persistent cookies. This information may be intercepted and "hijacked" by rogue software. Cookies can also be "poisoned" by changing the information in them, so that purchase prices of articles or other data change.

SEO issues and Cookies

Tracking programs and Web site statistics often depend on cookies to distinguish new visitors from repeat visitors, collect demographic data etc. However, a significant number of users set their browsers to reject third party cookies and some also reject first party cookies. This makes it difficult to collect data and the users have to be tracked by IP address, which is less reliable.

Ami Isseroff

October 4, 2008

Note - Definitions of Search Engine Optimization terms are based on inferences from common usage and definitions given by other sources. Conclusions about search engine behavior are based on understanding of the behavior of the most popular search engines. Both are subject to error or may change. Search engine company management may define or use a term or set or change any policy in any way they see fit, and may make these definitions and specifications public or not. These decisions and definitions are beyond our control.  

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