What are Marketing Cookies?
Discover how marketing cookies help companies show targeted ads, better understand visitors, and increase conversions.
Marketing cookies are an important part of online marketing. Marketing cookies are used to gather information about a visitor on a website. This information is then used to run a targeted marketing campaign based on the visitors' interests. With marketing cookies, companies can recognize and track their website visitors. This allows companies to show targeted ads, make personalized offers, and track their visitors to better understand their needs.
However, marketing cookies don't only have advantages. Many users find it annoying that ads keep coming back, but cookies are also abused in the field of cybercrime to carry out cyberattacks.
Advantages of marketing cookies
Using marketing cookies has many advantages for companies. For example, they can increase conversion on their website by showing more targeted ads. They can also gain more insight into their visitors' behavior on their website, allowing them to better tailor their website and marketing strategy.
As an individual, you're often shown relevant content in the ad spaces that companies sell. Think of ad blocks on news sites, sponsored content, or other forms of marketing you encounter in daily life.
Disadvantages of marketing cookies
However, there are also disadvantages to using marketing cookies. If visitors aren't aware of the use of these cookies, they might be startled by recurring ads. Not knowing that they once showed interest in a trip on their phone, and now get a fantastic offer for a trip to the previously discussed destination on their laptop.
Companies can also violate privacy legislation if they don't provide proper information about the use of these cookies. Cookie banners on websites are becoming increasingly funny and playful. For example, they often don't say ''Do you accept cookies'' but a text like ''Fancy some cookies?''. Fun wordplay, but this causes people to take the purpose of the cookies less seriously and/or understand it less.
Companies themselves are often not well informed about the obligations when it comes to using marketing cookies. They need to ensure their visitors are aware of the use of these cookies and that they've given consent for their use. They also need to ensure that the information they gather with cookies is accurate and complies with privacy legislation.
How can it be done differently?
Companies can also use various techniques to prevent their visitors from being involuntarily confronted with marketing cookies. For example, they can place a clear cookie policy on their website with which visitors can give consent for the use of these cookies. They can also place an opt-out button on their website with which visitors can indicate they don't want to receive marketing cookies.
Marketing cookies can help companies improve their online marketing activities. But companies also need to ensure they comply with privacy legislation and that their visitors are aware of the use of these cookies. If they do this, they can help their visitors have a better online experience.
At Tozetta we also offer a security monitoring tool that ensures your digital assets are scanned for vulnerabilities and against various laws and regulations such as the GDPR. We call this subscription Hacking as a Service, with which we make continuous pentesting possible!
Cookies and cybercrime
You also have so-called ''session cookies''. These ensure you don't have to enter your username and password every time you open Facebook, Instagram, or your email through your web browser. Through malware, these session cookies can be stolen. This can result in cybercriminals gaining access to your accounts without your consent (Read more here!).
This very clearly shows that convenience for the user (staying logged into your accounts through the session cookie) doesn't always go hand in hand with good cybersecurity.
Want to know more about how a cybercriminal operates? We've organized a webinar in which a hacker explains their approach!