Why all the cookies?

[majestic0110]

Hi all, I hope you are well. I am just wondering why CMON requires all these cookies to enable me to login to the site:

adszooks.com
ad.yieldmanager.com
content.yieldmanager.com
contextweb.com
coolminiornot.com (this one speaks for itself really)
quantserve.com
scorecardresearch.com
tag.contextweb.com.

I appreciate this might be due to web hosting policies or licenses but is it really necessary? I try to browse the web with cookies disabled except for exceptions that I trust - in a (perhaps vain) effort to increase browsing security. I have noticed that some anti-spyware software (such as Spybot Search & destroy - I think it was that one) recognises these cookies as tracking cookies, and recommends removal of them...

How did I test this?

I removed all cookies from my browser. I then proceeded to the CMON website ONLY and tried to log in. With cookies enabled, I then viewed the cookies and that\'s the list I got. Now, I am not saying anything negative about CMON nor do i think that these cookies are malicious, but I just wondered why so many are needed before I can login, and was hoping someone with more knowledge on this could let me know. Thanks!

 

[GunjiNoKanrei]

I am pretty sure you don\'t need these to log in (or stay logged in) - for that you only need the coolminiornot.com cookie. Most likely this is the only cookie intercting with CMON\'s own code.

The other cookies are set by adserver. All the different (paid) banner ads you see on CMON come from adserver (banner exchange services) which need cookies to track which ads you see and which you click (I know, I know ...).

So yes, these are indeed (annoying) tracking cookies. You can savely delete them as this shouldn\'t affect your ability to log in to CMON or stay logged in for that matter.

 

[majestic0110]

Well, I found that if you only allow the CMON cookie you CANNOT login to the site or stay logged in, and yes the pop ups are incredibly annoying and useless. But my point is that, without these, and lets be fair, completely useless cookies, you cannot log onto CMON. That\'s my gripe. Among others...

 

[skeeve]

in order to function normally you only need collminiornot.com and (if you use it) blog.coolminiornot.com

 

[majestic0110]

Well, I think you will find that if you only enable the cookie for CMON and block everything else. You will not be able to log in to the site.

 

[GunjiNoKanrei]

Originally posted by majestic0110
Well, I think you will find that if you only enable the cookie for CMON and block everything else. You will not be able to log in to the site.

Ok, I only allowed cookies from the domain coolominiornot.com and blocked all the adserver cookies and it works fine. Otherwise I wouldn\'t be able to write this.

However CMON seems to be setting two cookies one from www.coolminiornot.com and one from coolminiornot.com. Do you accept both?

 

[majestic0110]

GunjiNoKanrei: you are quite right, I allowed only the two cookies you mentioned and was able to log in fine. That\'s great news, I like to minimize the amount of useless cookies I receive. Thanks very much for that. Is there a reason why it sends one from www.coolminiornot.com and coolminiornot.com ?

 

[GunjiNoKanrei]

There probably is a reason for the two cookies ... but I guess only Chern could give you an answer since he developed CMON.

 

[Chern Ann]

Frankly, the site is a bit of a frankenstein monster of various scripts with various login systems that have been integrated. For maximum compatibility I\'ve left some of the legacy stuff alone. An extra cookie isn\'t going to kill you. :drunk:

 

[In Chigh P.I.]

A-ha! This explains a little more about why certain members cannot/could not access the site at various times over the last few weeks

So browser settings is the answer? Be careful which ads you ad-block? Am i in the correct ballpark?

 

[Chern Ann]

To be perfectly honest you could probably block all the cookies except the coolminiornot.com ones. If access is a problem, most likely I was updating a part of the site that obsoleted an existing cookie. Clearing your temporary internet files/cache will usually solve the problem.