What Are Cookies?

I know many of my customers keep asking me “What are cookies?” So, I am going to create this blog post to answer that and to help you understand.

Cookies are small files with a few characters that website can create. Each individual cookie has a name and a website identification. Each individual cookie also has an expiration date that can be whatever the website wants it to be. Cookies can be set to expire as soon as you leave the website. After the cookie expires, the web browser automatically deletes it. A cookie can only be created if your web browser accesses a website. For instance, facebook.com cannot create a cookie on your computer unless you go to facebook.com or unless the page you are viewing gets data from facebook.com.

1st party cookies are those created by the website you actually visit. 3rd party cookies are those created by websites which are accessed by the website you are on. Many, but not all, 3rd party cookies are created by advertisers.

It is important to remember that websites cannot access cookies for different websites.  For instance, the website facebook.com cannot view the cookies that google.com created.

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