Atlas Backtracks on Cookie Data

NEW YORK Just a week after casting doubt on research showing users deleting Internet-tracking cookies, aQuantive’s Atlas research unit revised its findings, concurring that cookie deletion is a problem.

In a report released last week, Atlas said it found a significant gap between users’ self-reported cookie deletions and the actual cookie lifespan on their computers. Like surveys done by Jupiter Research and Nielsen//NetRatings, Atlas found 43 percent of respondents said they deleted cookies weekly. Instead of an average cookie lifespan of seven days, however, it was 45 days for those users.