how many people really block cookies?
Including intentional blocking and users whose network (work/school) block cookies?
I found this study from 2004 claiming 3%
(and possibly elevated because the sample was from people interested in the tracking issue)
I did not find any more recent studies...
pr0gr4mm3r posted this at 22:04 — 21st February 2009.
He has: 1,502 posts
Joined: Sep 2006
Some browsers block 3rd party cookies, but I don't hear of that many people blocking regular domain cookies. I code all my websites with the assumption that the visitor will accept my cookies.
COSSOFT posted this at 23:20 — 21st February 2009.
They have: 18 posts
Joined: Jan 2009
2004 is thousands of years ago in IT time. What happened then is virtually irrelevant today. I think that most (general) users don't know what a cookie is anyway, so they're unlikely to block them intentionally. As for unintentional blocking, don't forget that if you block them a very significant proportion of sites just won't work (like this one). I very rarely see URL rewriting these days, and would not code for it anymore.
Also remember that most modern browsers can delete them on exit so privacy is preserved (as much as it can be whilst state is maintained).
pr0gr4mm3r posted this at 04:17 — 22nd February 2009.
He has: 1,502 posts
Joined: Sep 2006
You lost me here. What does this have to do with cookies?
decibel.places posted this at 05:17 — 22nd February 2009.
He has: 1,494 posts
Joined: Jun 2008
Well, I participate in surveys, and I believe that Harris Online always includes a question about invasions of privacy, including screening employees for HIV/AIDS, unsolicited phone calls, and internet tracking cookies - so it is something that is being tracked by opinion research, and probably not as unknown as you may think.
Yes, 2004 is a long time ago, I was asking if anybody can help me find a more recent study.
decibel.places posted this at 01:03 — 22nd February 2009.
He has: 1,494 posts
Joined: Jun 2008
Well, I put a hidden div that displays a message if cookies are disabled.
The message includes a link to this excellent page about enabling cookies in many browsers
I explained pros and cons to client - that cookies will require age verification once - but anybody without cookies will be blocked from viewing the site - alternatively viewers would need to verify each visit without cookies.
I happened to meet an employee of Fly Concepts that includes in its clients some big liquor accounts, and she told me they have the viewers verify every time - now we know why.
pr0gr4mm3r posted this at 04:18 — 22nd February 2009.
He has: 1,502 posts
Joined: Sep 2006
decibel.places posted this at 05:19 — 22nd February 2009.
He has: 1,494 posts
Joined: Jun 2008
Back in the day, I had to detect NS2 because, among other deficiencies, it had no Math.random ... IE3 rocked at that point!
Some of my code on netsperience 1.x on GeoCities still has that detection.
BTW I left Firefox in block cookies mode by accident and I was unable to view a Drupal project that was in offline mode - kept getting the site offline page... ACK
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