How the cookie crumbles.(Brief Article)

Most marketers readily agree that cookies are beneficial, as they lead to accurate targeting of online messages, which suits the consumer and the marketer. However, there are increasing numbers of browsers, blockers and other forms of freeware that can kill the cookie. The current response of many in the online marketing sphere has been to attempt to force cookies on net users, by trying to override these blocking tools or even having them banned. But forcing something on to people is doomed to failure.

This leaves marketers decrying the loss of the very thing that they believed made online marketing successful - the stream of data that allowed them to accurately …