As online media researchers argue over whether or not there is a serious problem in ad tracking due to cookie deletion, several firms are lining up in hopes of providing an alternative, according to ClickZ. One of the stronger candidates to take over the mantel of counter-of-visitors is a particular type of Flash program ("shared objects") that can persistently identify individuals across sites. One problem that these technologies may find is that the cookie deletion that online marketers worry about may be due to over-zealous anti-spyware programs - rather than users deliberately deleting cookies. These Flash files may suffer a similar fate if they are used for tracking purposes.

In related news, United Virtualities sent out a release this morning bragging of its own cookie alternative it calls the Persistent Identification Element. One of the uses of the PIE appears to be similar to a technology Tacoda said it can offer that effectively replaces cookie files that appear to have been deleted by users who can be identified via alternative means.