Third party cookies and the battle of the browser
By Daniel Austin, Programme Executive, R.O.EYE
In September of this year Google launched its much anticipated browser, Chrome, to the public. This is a move that will see Chrome pitted against the might of IE and Firefox; Google will be hoping they can decrease Microsoft’s dominance in this arena.
While IE8 is still in beta, both this and Chrome feature a private browsing mode that will automatically block and delete third party cookies when users are browsing with these safety modes switched on. Blocking third party cookies is and has been available in all browsers for sometime, but never at the touch of a button so prominently displayed for all to see. This new “one touch” function will be sure to highlight third party cookies to a public before unaware of their existence.
Previously an understanding of cookies by internet users, as well as slight technical know how in order to block them, would have insured that this would not really have been an issue in previous browsers.
This development has led industry experts to questions the validity of cookie tracking and look for alternatives, one such alternative is in the form of Flash Cookies. Flash cookies are stored outside of the browsers temporary internet files, and are therefore left untouched by the new browsers privacy modes. As an industry built on the very foundations of third party cookies, now more than ever is the time to ensure we have an understanding of these new technologies, and how they can help our merchants as well as affiliates. Sales tracking has always been a bone of contention for affiliates, robust and trusted technologies are essential in ensuring both affiliates and merchants trust the reliability of your affiliate programme.
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