Whenever you visit a website on the internet you may have noticed a pop-up about cookies that urges you to either accept or prompts you to set your preferences. We usually don’t read everyone knows about it and often click the allow or accept button.
What are cookies?
Cookies are little text files
that websites create when you visit them. HTTP cookies (also known as web
cookies, Internet cookies, browser cookies, or just cookies) are little data
blocks created by a web server and stored on a user's computer or other devices by the user's web browser when the user is accessing a website.
When you visit a website, your
web server sends a small piece of data called a computer cookie to your
device's browser. This cookie is used to keep track of information about you,
such as your website visits and activities. It's critical to understand how
they work and when you'll need to intervene to control how your browser caches
these data packets. They simplify your internet experience by storing browsing
data. Cookies allow websites to keep you logged in, remember your choices, and
provide you with material that is relevant to your location.
Cookies are stored on the device
used to access a website, and a user's device may get multiple cookies throughout
a session. Digital cookies are a necessary feature of every internet browsing
experience since they allow websites to track your behavior.
Origin of the name Cookies:
Lou Montulli, a web browser coder, created the term "cookie." It was taken from the Unix phrase
"magic cookie," which refers to a packet of data that a program
receives and delivers back unmodified. The term "magic cookie" comes
from the phrase "fortune cookie," which is a biscuit containing a
hidden message.
Two main types of cookies:
There are First-party cookies that
are created by the websites when you visit them. These sites are shown in the
address bar. Then there are third-party cookies that are created by other
websites. Some of the content you view on these web pages, such as adverts or
photos, is owned by these sites.
Further, there are different flavors
of cookies:
1. Persistent cookie
This cookie saves data for an
extended duration and expires after a specific period of time. It saves your
username and password making it easy for you whenever you want to log in again.
2. Session cookie
This cookie gets deleted whenever
you close the browser and are temporary. Whenever you are shopping this cookie
helps to keep your items in your cart even if navigating other pages.
3. Third-party cookie
This cookie is known as a tracking cookie that collects your online data. This cookie is responsible to detect your online behavior. These cookies are used by advertisers to show you ads whenever you visit websites or watch videos.
For example, you visit a website
to purchase a pair of clothing but you end up not buying any. The third part of cookies stores your information- which website you visited and which pair of
clothing you browsed through. This information is then passed on to other advertisers.
Later in the day when you are online, you will see ads of the exact pair of
clothing you browsed through earlier. This is only possible because of third-party cookies.
Uses of cookies:
Session management
Cookies were first created to
allow users to keep track of products they wanted to buy as they navigated
through a website. The server delivers a cookie to the client
which contains a unique session identifier to keep track of the user and
its assigned shopping cart (typically, a long string of random letters and
numbers). Because cookies are sent to the server with each request, whenever the
user will visit a new page on the website the session identifier will be sent
back to the server. This will allow the server to determine which shopping cart
to display to the user.
Cookies are used for logging into
websites. Whenever a user visits the login page of the website, a unique
session identifier is sent to the client by the webserver. Once the user is
logged in successfully the server will remember its unique session identifier.
Personalization
Cookies can be used to save
information about a user so that they can be shown relevant material over time.
For example, whenever you log in using your username, the server will send a
cookie to remember it the next time you want to log in. You may also get an
option to fill out a form to personalize your cookie preferences. The server will encode
your preferences in a cookie which will be sent to the browser.
Tracking
These cookies are used for
tracking the browsing habits of the user.
Are these Computer cookies good
or bad?
Cookies on a website aren't
hazardous because they don't download malware. Cookies, on the other
hand, continue to represent a security risk to users as they collect
personal information about users' surfing behavior.
Users can manage cookies by
navigating to the location where cookies are stored in their web browser. In
Google Chrome, for example, you can enable or disable cookie storage by going
to "settings," then "Cookies and other site data," and then
selecting "Block all third-party cookies."
Death of third-party cookies
In February of 202, Google had announced the phase-out of third-party cookies for the reason of protecting users and their privacy. The third-party cookie has already been phased away in Firefox and Safari. Whereas Google has stated that it will phase them in the next two years as they work with advertisers and they do not destroy their online advertise business.
How will the death of third-party
cookies affect the Healthcare industry?
According to Aaron Clifford, SVP of Marketing at Binary Fountain, the healthcare providers already work with various constraints for advertising on Google that are specific to healthcare. “Healthcare will be less impacted by this change than other industries who rely heavily on cross-site cookies for advertising,” Clifford said. “What remains unchanged is the importance for brands to develop loyal followers by consistently providing valuable content that serves the interests and objectives of the followers.”
Author: Akshita Ashokan
#thirdpartycookies #httpcookies #firstpartycookies #healthcare #firstpartydata #advertising #digitaladvertsing #Google
References:
Fogg, S., 2021. What Are Cookies? A Helpful Guide to Internet & Computer Cookies. [online] Termly. Available at: <https://termly.io/resources/articles/what-are-cookies/> [Accessed 19 March 2022].
hp.com. 2018. Computer Cookies: What They Are and How They Work. [online] Available at: <https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/tech-takes/what-are-computer-cookies> [Accessed 20 March 2022].
www.kaspersky.com. 2022. What are Cookies?. [online] Available at: <https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/cookies> [Accessed 23 March 2022].
McQuilkin, K., 2020. Google Cookies Update: What Healthcare Marketers Need to Know. [online] binaryfountain.com. Available at: <https://www.binaryfountain.com/blog/google-cookies-healthcare/> [Accessed 23 March 2022].
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Exceptionally well written!! I'm very impressed with how well you write about HTTP Cookies in the healthcare industry. A digital revolution is currently taking place in healthcare all around the world, and it is expected that website cookies will become an even more valuable asset. Cookies in healthcare refers to vast amounts of data generated by the adoption of digital technology that collects patient records and aid in the management of hospital performance, Every second, an ever-increasing amount of healthcare data is collected and analyzed for useful information. Indeed, healthcare is rapidly shifting its focus from treatment to prevention, which I believe is critical, particularly in light of the times we live in. Keep up the excellent work!
ReplyDeleteThis blog is very enlightening and gives us so much information about cookies and that too, in an excellent manner. I am incredibly impressed with all the data that has been covered in this blog. Cookies have had such a huge impact on the digital world and digital marketing in general. Additionally, I love how this blog also sheds light upon the origin, types and uses of cookies. The fact that the blog explains the impact of this specific technology on the healthcare industry as well is quite commendable. I am eager to read more blogs from this page. Great work!
ReplyDeleteHTTP cookies are extremely important to the operation of your website and to the internet as a whole. These cookies ensure that users can quickly find what they're looking for by remembering you, your website logins, shopping carts, and other information. It provides users with more personalized search results based on their search behaviors, resulting in a more enjoyable and convenient visit. This blog not only discusses the origins of these cookies, but it also discusses the different sorts and flavors, as well as how to use them, making it a worthwhile read.
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