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A Cookie is a tiny file that a web server places on your computer when you visit a webpage. The file is made up of normal text and cannot do anything by itself. However, when read by a website, the cookie can make a webpage more user-friendly. A common use of cookies is for remembering personal settings.
Cookies live in your browser’s memory. Usually, they contain:
Any page on the domain that created the cookie can read it. The cookie can then be used in a variety of ways.
For example, when you add a product to your basket and decide not to buy it straight away, a cookie will be stored in your browser’s memory … when you come back a few hours later, you will see that your basket has been saved for you.
In the majority of cases a cookie is used only by the website you are visiting. These are called 1st-party cookies.
For example, when you visit Google, 1st-party cookies will be stored in your browser’s memory. Any time you browse a page in the Google domain, these cookies’ data will be used to personalise webpages.
A 3rd party cookie provides information to websites other than the one that created it. By providing browsing data to other websites, these cookies make cross-domain tracking possible.
Let’s say a user begins a session on Google but ends up on Skype. As these are different domains, there is no way for a 1st-party cookie to share data between the different websites. On the other hand, using a 3rd party cookie allows the user to be tracked across these domains.
3rd-party cookies are disabled by default on Safari, meaning Convertize is unable to track Safari users unless 3rd-party cookies are explicitly enabled.
It is possible to prevent your browser accepting some (or all) cookies. But it’s worth noting that disabling cookies restricts the performance of websites.
Turning off cookies will stop websites remembering your visits, meaning content designed to appear for returning users won’t appear.
All modern browsers allow you to control your cookie settings. Here are the instruction pages for the most popular browsers:
Keep browsing our documentation to find out how to install Convertize, use Persuasive Notifications, or set new goals for an AB test. Alternatively, sign in to your Convertize account.