cookies | Internet Marketing Blog

ICO: take an extra year to chew on new cookie law

Wondering how your business will address the new law that requires users to opt in to cookies? There's good news: you can procrastinate.

That's because the ICO, perhaps facing the reality that the new law is fatally flawed, has decided to give everyone amnesty (as the Telegraph calls it) for violating the law over the course of the next year.

by Patricio Robles 26 May 2011 11:44am 5 comments

Something to chew on: the ICO's vague cookie advice

If the Information Commissioner's Office has its way, cookies will soon be a lot less tasty to website operators.

That's because on May 26, the rules governing the use of cookies on websites in Regulation 6 of the UK's Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 will be updated in to require that a user "has given his or her consent" to the placement of a cookie in accordance with a new European Directive.

by Patricio Robles 11 May 2011 11:00am 6 comments

Unworkable "Do Not Track" bills coming to the US

Online privacy may be one of the most important digital issues of the day, and it's only getting more important as more and more people use the internet more frequently.

Not suprisingly, government is increasingly looking to assert its role in the debate. Late last year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a staff report suggesting that one attractive solution to many privacy concerns would be a Do Not Track mechanism that allows consumers to opt out of tracking.

The primary method of accomplishing this, the FTC proposed, would be a "persistent setting, similar to a cookie, on the consumer’s browser".

by Patricio Robles 09 May 2011 17:11pm 0 comments

Advertisers undercounting iOS paid search conversions: report

With marketers spending billions of dollars annually on paid search campaigns, accurately measuring conversions is a top priority. After all, conversion data provides important signals that marketers can use to manage budget and refine campaigns.

Unfortunately, conversions are often more difficult to measure than it seems they should be. According to a study by Marin Software, an ad management solutions provider, the proliferation of iOS devices, including the iPhone and iPad, is making accurate conversion tracking even more difficult.

by Patricio Robles 21 March 2011 09:56am 12 comments

Why the EU Privacy Directive is not a real threat to the internet industry

The new EU e-Privacy Directive that comes into effect in the UK on May 25 has caused a major stir in the local internet community, but its real impact will depend on enforcement and ‘cost’ to end users.

Could common sense prevail? Perhaps, but in the end practicality will...

by Michael Feiner 14 March 2011 09:35am 13 comments

Google, Mozilla jump on the Do Not Track bandwagon

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission doesn't think advertisers are doing enough to respect the privacy of consumers online, so it recently proposed the creation of a Do Not Track system for the web that would give consumers the ability to opt out of ad tracking.

There's just one big challenge: making that happen technically.

by Patricio Robles 26 January 2011 09:32am 1 comment

The FTC's Do Not Track proposal: useless, harmful or both?

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has increasingly been taking a more active role in trying to make sure that online marketers aren't harming consumers. That has meant, amongst other things, keeping a close eye on marketing taking place through social channels. You know, Kim Kardashian's tweets.

Yesterday, the FTC issued a long-awaited staff report that "proposes a framework to balance the privacy interests of consumers with innovation that relies on consumer information to develop beneficial new products and services."

by Patricio Robles 02 December 2010 14:01pm 3 comments

Are cookies off the menu in the new online Europe?

There has been a lot of noise recently surrounding the new legislation on online tracking and the use of cookies and permission. Marketers must sit up and listen to the potential underlying threat this legislation can pose and consider whether a new approach to transparency and education can head off the threat now and in the future.

It seems most of the controversy is based on the typical ambiguity that seems to exist in many online rules and regulations. Because, let’s face it, the situation is meant to be led by public opinion, with the legislators supposedly following suit. The public want to be “protected” from evil online marketing spies, who are poised and ready to sell something at the first sign of interest.

Or do they?

by Matthew Kelleher 19 November 2010 11:52am 12 comments

The UK needs to change its cookie policies

The UK is getting its online personal data protection wrong and it is harming businesses and consumers. New laws are being passed to conform to EU cookie regulations and existing data protection act is being ratified to ensure that the digital world is covered by data protection, but there is a long way to go.

However, the internet is a global phenomenon so any damaging regulation for UK websites will result in users moving to overseas websites damaging our industry.

by Alec Cochrane 09 November 2010 11:59am 9 comments

Apple: digital's greatest challenge?

If Apple’s version of the digital universe were to reach real scale, then alongside privacy legislation, it poses the greatest challenge to the development of digital.

by Paul Cook 15 September 2010 11:32am 11 comments