Bad Taste and much, much more

Euro Cookies leave nasty taste in the mouth

Amanda Chandler, (European Director of Data Protection) of DoubleClick and a council member of eMMa, tells Wired Up how new European laws on ‘cookies’ will affect internet marketers, advertisers and publishers.

Europe’s telecom ministers are at it again. The European Commission is currently passing through layers of bureaucracy in Brussels with its Communications Data Protection Directive.

And as every Sun reader knows, the Brussels bureaucrats would dictate the size of our sausages if they could get away with it! So it is probably unsurprising that there are many rulings afoot that will dramatically affect how marketing is conducted online.

One such ruling could force companies to warn consumers every time a cookie is being issued and allow individuals to reject them. Unsurprisingly the move has provoked consternation from the online business community. Wired Up investigates…

Wired Up: Which is the better option – opt-in or opt-out cookies?
Amanda Chandler: Opt-out. Because, although cookies provide virtually zero security risk to consumers, if people feel nervous about them they can choose not to have them around.

Opt-in cookies require surfers to positively accept cookies each time they visit a new site. But managing cookies in this way is technically difficult and expensive. Because internet visitors enter websites through any number of pages, not just the home page’s ‘front door’, under this regime every page would need to be set up to screen new visitors. Added to which search engines or web directories such as Yahoo are connected to millions of third-party sites. So, every time a visitor enters a new site indirectly they would be put in the ludicrous position of having to accept up to eight different cookies.

Wired Up: Who would be the main losers if the directive goes through as is?
AC: The directive would be a lose-lose situation for everyone. For a start not every firm will be able to afford the extra technology, particularly at a time when budgetary belts are being winched tight. The resulting extra demand on costs will be passed on to advertisers and so encourage them to spend their budgets elsewhere.

For consumers, visiting an opt-in cookie web site will become a slower, clunkier and more expensive operation– requiring them to accept cookies each time they enter a new website, or a previously-visited site via a new machine.

But with opt-out cookies a website can be configured to enhance the surfer’s experience online. The new directive would affect advertisers’ ability to do this.

Wired-Up: Why do the Eurocrats seem bent on pushing the legislation through?
AC: The European Commission does mean well, but there is a sense of it assuming that Europeans are ‘asking to be protected’, which is a bit patronising to consumers. What is most irritating is the ongoing misunderstanding about what cookies are and how companies use the technology. As they stand cookies provide very low security risk and legislation already exists to protect the consumer from personal abuse through them.

Wired-Up: Is all lost then – will the directive be passed as it now stands?
AC: The debate will not be over until the directive is finalised in April, and it is very difficult to know where it will all end up.

As it stands, consumers will ultimately be the biggest losers in the long-term. Using the internet will be sluggish and phone bills will be higher as consumers spend longer downloading web pages. Web publishers will also see advertising revenue decrease as the resulting price hikes drive advertisers elsewhere.

Is your online marketing as successful as your rivals’?

Wired Up is about to complete its research into marketers’ use of digital messaging in the UK.

So far the research project has attracted input from practitioners across the entire spectrum of marketing disciplines – from design to database – representing the complete mix of industry sectors – from government and public services to FMCG. Most respondents are management level or above and decision makers and influencers.

The interim results reveal some interesting first stage findings. So far our research suggests:

• 90% of responders have found HTML more effective than plain text e-mail.
• Over 90% plan to use more digital messaging in 2002 than 2001.
• 85% of responders have found digital messaging more cost effective than direct mail.
• 89% of those who measured their results achieved their objectives.

To complete the survey takes a matter of a few short minutes and the research is still on-going. Everyone who participates will receive an executive report of the results, providing a valuable benchmarking tool for digital marketers. To take part, click here.

Know your cookies…

According to Netscape, “Cookies are a general mechanism which server side connections can use both to store and retrieve information on the client side of the connection.”

Most sophisticated Websites use cookies to store information on the hard disk of a visitor’s computer.

At their most basic, cookies are used to store very simple information – like a user ID. More sophisticated uses include recording basic ‘session information’ - a record of each visit and its duration. The really detailed information, like pages visited, shopping cart contents and user preferences, is typically stored in a separate database, which is linked in some way to the cookie.

Because cookies allow websites to recognise repeat visitors they can accurately calculate the number of new visitors, the number of unique visitors and the number of visits each user makes – assuming one visitor per machine.

To find out more about cookies download the Frontwire factsheet now.

New reader? Click here to subscribe at Frontwire's homepage.

Subscription changes

Wired-Up! is edited by Orchid PR www.orchidpr.co.uk and published by Frontwire Ltd www.frontwire.com
Frontwire and its agents have used their best efforts in collecting and preparing the informaton published herein. However, Frontwire does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other causes.

Frontwire's privacy policy