The creator of a Web site often wants to remember facts about you and your visit. A cookie is the mechanism for remembering details of a single visit or store facts between visits. A cookie is a small file (not more than 4k) stored on your hard disk by a Web application. Cookies have several uses.
- Visit tracking: A cookie might be used to determine which pages a person views on a particular Web site visit. The data collected could be used to improve site design.
- Storing information: Cookies are used to record personal details so that you don't have to supply your name and address details each time you visit a particular site. Most subscription services (e.g., The Wall Street Journal) and on-line stores (e.g., Amazon.com) use this approach.
- Customization: Some sites use cookies to customize their service. A cookie might be used by CNN to remember that you are mainly interested in news about ice skating and cooking.
- Marketing: A cookie can be used to remember what sites you have visited so that relevant advertisements can be supplied. For example, if you frequently visit travel sites, you
might get a banner ad from Delta popping up next time you do a search.
Cookies are a useful way of collecting data to provide visitors with better service. Without accurate information about people's interest, it is very difficult to provide good service.
Both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator allow surfers to set options for various levels of warnings about the use of cookies. Visitors who are concerned about the misuse of cookies can reject them totally, with the consequent loss of service.
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