Cookies Continue to Crumble Online

Back in January you might remember us talking about how Google and Mozilla were planning on unveiling ways that people can opt out of cookies, and what this could potentially mean for tracking in PPC and SEO.

Now European laws, due to come into effect on 25 May 2011, are set to further shake up how cookies are used. The new laws stipulate that “explicit consent” must be gathered from users. This is likely to slow down users’ performance on favourite sites and also affect online advertisers.

Harder to Direct the Most Relevant Ads to Users

These changes are being brought into effect by the European E-privacy Directive. Over the past year, a lot has been made of online privacy particularly with the rise of social networks, most notably Facebook.

Facebook has had many wrangling’s with privacy issues, which even saw an alternative site created called Diaspora.

Now these privacy issues are being taken more seriously across all sites, it is likely to give advertisers and marketers a bit of a headache. As we reported back in January it could dramatically change the landscape of analytics online.

Daniel Evans, online campaign manager at homejames predicted that any changes would have an effect on user experience. He said:

“Unless businesses can find a fast, smooth and convenient way of ascertaining explicit consent from users, accessing a site will no longer be as simple as what we’re used to. This will therefore make it harder to direct relevant and the most useful ads to a user.”

"It's Going to Happen. It's The Law"

Companies will be given time to make these changes but the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) has stressed that simply changing settings on browsers might not be sophisticated enough. Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, told the BBC,

"They have to think seriously about this. It's going to happen and it's the law." Stern words indeed.

Speak to homejames today to find out how we can help your company with website structure and analytics.