| Cookie Tracking |
Webopedia gives the following definition:
"A cookie is a message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.
The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customized Web pages for them. When you enter a Web site using cookies, you may be asked to fill out a form providing such information as your name and interests. This information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your Web browser, which stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same Web site, your browser will send the cookie to the Web server. The server can use this information to present you with custom Web pages. So, for example, instead of seeing just a generic welcome page you might see a welcome page with your name on it."
We use cookies to track visitors. Every time someone visits your site, a cookie is created in the browser. This cookie stays on the browser and the next time that browser is used, the cookie will notify us that this is a return visitor. Everyone who uses that browser will be counted as the same visitor. If the same person visits your site on another computer, it will be counted as a new visitor. So in reality, a visitor is the computer browser, not the person using it. You can use a cookie to exclude your own IP address.
If a visitor comes to your site and does not accept cookies, we can usually identify which visitor it is by a combination of unique identifiers (exactly which identifiers we use depend on the browser). Although this is not as accurate, it does give a good approximation to otherwise untractable visitors.
There is no way to track individual people. There is no way to tell who is using the computer or if the same person is using two different computers. (We can’t look through the computer at the person.) We can only try to track the computer browser or the IP address. Cookie tracking is a very accurate way of tracking the computer browsers. The only problem that would arise would be if someone accepts our cookies and then erases them. There is no way around this. If they do not want to be tracked, we can’t track them.
Another popular alternative to using cookies is to use IP addresses. IP addresses create several problems. Many people have "dynamic" IP addresses. This means that the IP address can change each time they connect to the internet. Mostly this is true for people who connect through "dial-up" Internet Service Providers (such as AOL, etc.) Different people will be tracked as the same person and the same person will be tracked as different people. Another problem arises with computer networks. Networks often use a “gateway.” This gives the same IP address to several computers on a network. This would count all computers as one visitor. Cookie tracking overcomes these obstacles.
Some people object to the use of cookies since they are often perceived as intrusive to privacy. WebSTAT does not use cookies to track any personally identifiable information about any of your visitors. The cookies are simply used to identify visitors as unique or returning, and to gauge the duration since their last visit. In any case, if you object to the use of cookies, they can be turned off. Please note, however, that by turning your cookie tracking off you will be missing out on a lot of useful information (such as returning visitor data, and the Visitor Frequency report). |
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