Impact on Affiliates
To say that the new laws could have an impact on affiliate marketing sites is a bit of an understatement. Affiliate marketers in every category rely on persistent cookies and the chances of users opting voluntarily is pretty slim. The ICO ran a test on their own site and found only 10 percent of users were willing to opt-in.
Beyond that, third party cookies like, say, Google Analytics could seriously impacted by the laws. In a recent posting titled, Cookie Law: The Gnarly Truth, Mark Steven points out that the software is run on around 90% of all sites. If 90% of all Internet users in Europe and the UK decided they’d prefer not to have those cookies on their sites, it could cause some serious problems.
Cookie Law Compliance
There’s no easy way of getting in compliance with the new directives but the sooner it’s done, the better. The first step towards compliance is conducting a cookie audit to figure out exactly what kind of cookies you’re serving up in the first place. If you don’t have advertising, you may already be in compliance.
Once you’ve got a handle on your cookies, you’ll need to create an opt-in form for site visitors. While this sounds like bad medicine, it might not be as bad your think. Visitors who opt-in to e-mail newsletters, for example, have much high open rates than other groups.
But whether you’re ready or not, the rules of the game in Europe are changing.
Are you prepared for the UK Cookie Law? Share your experiences on the UK Cookie Law Opinions thread.