Have you ever returned to a site, and there's a line there saying, Welcome back,...and powwee - your name is inserted! How did they know it's you?

How the WWW functions is actually a very simple, yet powerful platform. Everything is sent in a general format called called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Data is sent back and forward in a standard protocol.

When you log onto the web, visit a site and ask for a page by clicking on a link, your request is sent to the server where the site is located; the Web server. The Web server will respond to your request by sending the desired information - page - to your computer.

Sometimes, you may come to a site that asks you to log in with your name or email address. Or maybe you were shopping and set up an account. If you do, chances are the information you supplied is put into a cookie - a little piece of serialized programming - and sent back to your computer to be stored there for next time you visit. When you do, the Web server recognizes your "serial number" and matches it up with the previously gathered data, and viola! it knows your name, or pre-fills a new order form for you; address and all. Cookies can be used to make sure users don't enter contests twice, for example. So, cookies can be very handy and save you - the user - rekeying information. Cookies are also used for security reasons; they can match up your name with your IP address as a further tool against fraud (see my previous newsletter about online fraud).

Cookies have other uses for websites. If you remember from my last newsletter, Web servers keep logs of visitors IP addresses (not your physical address or name, but the Internet address of your computer). Cookies are an additional form of measuring activity on a site. If a website owner sees a lot of foreign visitors it may be worthwhile considering other languages on the site. Cookies allow website owners to follow a user through the site so it can be optimized; if a frequent visitor never visits certain pages, than maybe it's time to rethink the content on those pages.

Cookies have a clandestine face, too. First, unless you have turned off cookies in your Internet Options menu, the cookies are mostly stored in the your computer without your consent or knowledge. For example, with My Yahoo!, you set up your own categories of interest. The Web server then creates a specific cookie so everytime you visit, it returns the My Yahoo! page you set up. In this case, the personal information Yahoo has gathered on you is your areas of interest - a wonderful marketing tool now that Yahoo! is working with "partners" to email you commercial marketing offers.

So, many important pointers can be had from these logs allowing websites to evaluate and plan further development and marketing.

But, many people resent having information stored on a server somewhere. While most websites are reputable, some may misuse the information. A good example is Doubleclick, a marketing company that offers services for websites tallying clicks from for example email newsletters to pages on the site to measure marketing efforts. To track user patterns, they deployed cookies that reported back where visitors went after visiting a site to document user profiles. Doubleclick were sued for invasion of privacy and have discontinued the tracking.

CONTRARY TO RUMORS: A COOKIE ALONE CANNOT READ YOUR HARD DRIVE TO FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOUR INCOME IS, OR WHERE YOU LIVE. The only way that information could end up in a cookie is if YOU provide it to a site and that site saves it to a cookie.

Cookies are mostly used as they were intended; a way to identify you, the visitor, and save you time. If you are concerned about cookies, visit Cookiecentral.com. While a little bit paranoid, they have an excellent FAQ that tells you how to reject cookies. Be aware, though, that by turning off cookies, you may have problems accessing some sites, for example Yahoo.

Here at Advantage, we enjoy writing articles!

If your company needs content for your website, marketing material and brochures or wants help putting out your own email newsletter, don't fret - get it done by us! Deutsch? Francais? Or just plain English? No problemo, amigo!