Will Microsoft Eat Our Cookies?
- By: Linda Buquet [privmsg - website] On 17th Dec 2004 In
Thread Title:
Microsoft Buys GIANT AntiSpyware. Does Giant Eat Affiliate Cookies?
Microsoft Buys GIANT AntiSpyware. Does Giant Eat Affiliate Cookies?
Thread Description:
Speculation is just starting to brew on some of the forums regarding Microsoft’s purchase
and distribution of the Giant Antispyware program. Will this software target or eat affiliate cookies, like so many other anti-spyware programs do?
Cookie-monger that I am I certainly hope Microsoft knows better than that.
Above is a thread started over at AffiliateBoards.com with more information and research done so far. Anyone have any more info or care to weigh in on this?
Speculation is just starting to brew on some of the forums regarding Microsoft’s purchase
and distribution of the Giant Antispyware program. Will this software target or eat affiliate cookies, like so many other anti-spyware programs do?
Cookie-monger that I am I certainly hope Microsoft knows better than that.
Above is a thread started over at AffiliateBoards.com with more information and research done so far. Anyone have any more info or care to weigh in on this?
- Y! MyWeb
I think MsB has that on her t
I think MsB has that on her test computer.
Alternatives
Lets assume a worse case scenario:
Longhorn has Cookie Eating Spyware Pre-Installed
So, what are the options for merchants and affiliates? There must be some and I cant be the first to ask right?
Fill me in...
Alternatives
Well even as things stand right now, cookie issues affect a larger percentage of affiliate sales than any other threat out there IMO. I keep looking for and asking about alternative tracking methods that are reliable and have not found any so far. I keep raising issues like this - in hopes that someone will come up with either an alternative or back-up method of tracking affiliate sales, before something mamoth like "your worst case scenario" comes to pass.
Linda Buquet AKA Catalyst
Let's think this way...
... to find an answer we need to know what defines a cookie that will be deleted.
Once that has come to play we can work forward at putting in place an answer. Most anti spyware etc applications simply look for fingerprints in applications etc., but with cookies it's simpler still. Check for domains that set the cookies and they are either allowed or denied.
If you operate as an AM with a merchant that has been flagged as "delete cookies" then the simplest answer I can give is tools like http://www.jmarshall.com/tools/cgiproxy/
One of those (with some adaptation) on every domain you operate on and the cookie / domain issue is resolved (for now at least)