Cookie Crunching May Be Pumping Up Web Traffic

Found on PhysOrg on Monday, 16 April 2007
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Internet cookies might not be as reliable an indicator of distinct Web site visitors as previously thought, according to a Monday report from Internet research company comScore.

A growing number of Internet users have taken to erasing their computer's cookies, which are unique identifiers inserted on a user's computer that reveal what Web sites someone has visited. While this might not seem like a catastrophic event, the deletion of these cookies could lead to inflated traffic reports for a particular Web site, according to the report.

Researchers found that 31 percent of U.S. Internet users erased their first-party cookies over the course of the month. As a result, Web sites could be inflating their web traffic by as much as 150 percent, according to comScore.

Hello dot-com bubble. It would be even better to block all cookies, and establish a whitelist only. There are quite a few companies who make money by analyzing your surfing habits; but I won't give out my habits that easily.