Kevin Lee: A Tale of Two Cookies

April 11, 2014

In his latest ClickZ article, Didit’s Kevin Lee uses Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities as a literary frame for a discussion of Internet tracking cookies. He notes:

“It was the best of times…” (cookies worked well for tracking, were rarely if ever deleted, and browsers always accepted all first- and third-party cookies).

“It was the worst of times…” (cookie-blocking software proliferates, multi-device use makes it challenging to understand consumer behavior across these devices, and browsers are launching with opt out of tracking as the default).”

What will replace the cookie? Kevin writes: “My prediction is that the authenticated user will replace the cookie (this has already happened in many cases). This means the publishing and platform powerhouses in the world of digital advertising will have even more power in the future than they do now.”

Avoiding a “winter of despair” means “thinking about who authenticates users and how this facilitates better ad targeting, as well as validation that impressions and clicks are authentic.” Among the providers of such advanced, beyond-the-cookie services include Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Amazon.

Read Kevin’s complete article on ClickZ.com.