Web browsers and web servers use cookies to exchange data with each other. Cookies have a bad reputation these days because they are misused to provide us with unwanted advertising messages that are adapted to our surfing behaviour. But without cookies, there was little left to surf. So cookie bakers, let’s bake!
Cookies are instructions that are stored on your computer, so that websites (read: web servers) can consult them on your next visit. Every request made by a web browser stands on its own. That would mean that the ‘next web page’ being requested does not know what happened on the ‘previous web page’.
Suppose you are logged in to a website. Without cookies, the web server would never be able to know that and therefore not be able to provide you with information that is specifically tailored to you. Telebanking, online shopping, social media, etc. would therefore not be possible without cookies.
What you also need to know is that a cookie belongs to a certain website. Furthermore, a cookie has a name and a content. For example, the cookie name would e-mail address may be and the cookie content faqman@computertotaal.nl. Furthermore, a cookie has a lifespan that can vary from until the end of the web browser session to almost infinite. So: website, name, content, lifespan.
Google Chrome
Open Google Chrome and go to the Web Store. Find and install the extension EditThisCookie. With this you are – almost – provided with the tools you need for this workshop. And while we’re at it, get on your computer with the Windows Explorer to the folder C:UsersusernameAppDataLocalGoogleChromeUser DataDefault and look in particular at the Cookies file. If you try to open this file with a ASCII editor, you come home from a cold fair. You need one more tool and that’s it Cookie Editor, an extension that can also be found in the Chrome Web Store.
Cookie Editor
Start Cookie Editor within Google Chrome to get a complete overview of all cookies that the browser currently manages. If you do not regularly clean the (cookie) history of Chrome, you will undoubtedly be shocked by the number of websites and the number of cookies that are managed by those websites. Please take the time to look around with Cookie Editor, because there are definitely some interesting things to see!
Admittedly, you sometimes have to eat a little extra cheese on the underlying workings of web servers to understand what it is that you see. In the meantime, a little common sense will also go a long way, because the names of the cookies often tell you everything about their content. Take the cookie for example lzo from the website funda.nl. Lzo stands for Last Search, where in the box below Value can see exactly what was last searched for.
Google Ads
While browsing with Cookie Editor you will see a cookie like in particular __gads encounter quite regularly. On the website www.cookiedatabase.org can be checked that this cookie (an abbreviation of Google Ads) with Google DoubleClick in other words DoubleClick Digital Marketing belongs. And then you immediately understand how the advertising providers know so well what you are up to left and right on the internet. The __gads cookie forms the bridge between your surfing on one website and the advertisement on the other website. Google is not the only advertising provider engaged in such practices, by the way.
Manipulating cookies
In the meantime, you have the tools to manipulate cookies. Think of adjusting and – mainly – discarding cookies. It is even possible to block certain cookies (on website and by name). In addition, Cookie Editor is there for the big work and EditThisCookie especially for the website you are currently on.
A good example is the average daily newspaper website. Nowadays, more and more content has to be paid for and so they want to help you with a subscription. That is justifiable, because the paper newspaper has been on the decline for years. To convince you of the quality of the newspaper in question, you can already read a few premium articles as a foretaste (these are normally behind the payment button). Only… After 1-2-3-4-5 previews, the reading pleasure is over. Yes, that too is reasonable.
But if you don’t have money, you must be handy! In this case, click on the icon of EditThisCookie. The cookies from the daily newspaper website are displayed. Now instruct EditThisCookie to delete all cookies from the daily newspaper website. After this, you literally start again with a clean slate so that you can read a number of premium articles again.
Self-motivation
From now on, an et cetera applies, because it is now up to your self-activity. At the moment you can already make all cookies visible and manipulate for the screens of Google Chrome. This can be manipulated per complete website, but also per individual cookie. The moment you get hold of a certain cookie from a certain website, you can take that cookie to behind the scenes of Google Chrome. Go to the Settings, nasty Privacy and Security and then to Cookies and other site data. With all the options that Google Chrome gives you to better manage cookie traffic. And indeed: by default everything is allowed!
