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Delete Cookies, Inflate Net Traffic Estimates

Posted by kdawson on from the throwing-them-off dept.

eldavojohn writes "In my browser, I regularly go to the tools menu and clear my private data. This includes my cookies. As a result, people like me who destroy cookies by the thousands may be inflating estimates of Web traffic by up to 150 percent. People have good reasons for clearing out cookies — we've heard about bad cookies before (and I think the FCC is still investigating the issue). But every time you delete cookies, many of the sites you've visited count you as a new visitor next time."

2 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. 150%? by catbutt · · Score: 5, Informative

    That assumes an awful lot of people do that.

    I don't do it because it is a pain to constantly log back in everywhere. But I seriously doubt more than 2% of the non-slashdot crowd does it.

  2. CookieSafe is my current favourite by KenAndCorey · · Score: 4, Informative

    Cookiesafe allows me to keep my permanent cookies to a minimum, yet allow me all the functionality of session cookies. Of course, it does inflate the stats as the article mentions. In my previous job I worked with stats quite a bit (using WebSideStory/Hitbox), and it is such an inexact science that it ranks right up there with Lies and Damn Lies.

    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/249 7

    Anyone have other suggested software they prefer?