• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, June 2, 2005

Yet another study stating that consumers are rejecting cookies has just been released. Burst Media reported today that 38 percent of consumers said in a recent survey that they deleted Internet cookies at least once a month. That finding is nearly identical to one by Jupiter Research, which reported in April that 40 percent of online users delete cookies monthly. Other researchers, including aQuantive's Atlas DMT, also have found surprisingly high numbers of consumers who say they delete cookies.

Why are consumers erasing cookies? The single largest reason appears to be fears about privacy. Two out of three respondents to the Burst survey (66 percent) said they agreed with the statement, "Internet cookies allow someone to track my online activities."

But privacy isn't the only reason. About half of the respondents (47 percent) thought cookies slowed down their computer, while 42 percent believed cookies made computers susceptible to viruses.

And, despite a report this week by the Online Publishers Association stating that consumers appreciate Web ads, some consumers clearly are irritated by those ads -- and blame them on cookies. Thirty-nine percent of Burst respondents said they delete cookies because they "show ads on my computer screen."

At the same time, survey respondents had no confidence that cookies would keep them from seeing the same ad repeatedly. When asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement, "Internet cookies can keep me from seeing the same online advertisement over and over again," 35 percent disagreed, while 24 percent agreed.