EcommerceTimes.com reports on a WebTrends study that found cookie decline has soared from less than 3% in January, 2004 to over 12% in April, 2005.
WebTrends said that the percentage of users saying no to third-party cookies
has risen four-fold in the past 18 months, from 2.8 percent in January of
2004 to 12.4 percent in April of this year. However, the firm also said that
growth seems to have peaked. Some industries are being hit harder than
others, with a nearly 17 percent refusal rate in retail, more than 15
percent in telecommunications and 12 percent among media firms.
Adware, spyware and general privacy concerns are the main reason people are
deleting and refusing cookies. The problem for web publishers is that cookies
help with analyzing web data, tracking ads and affiliate links and offering
personalized content to website users. So, this increase in cookie
rejection if it continues will cause major headaches for web
developers.
