Based on the findings of new research it has commissioned, the Interactive Advertising Bureau may be planning to launch a public-awareness campaign clarifying cookie use, writes MediaPost. According to the research presented to the IAB board this week, some 12 percent of consumers are rejecting third-party cookies - those used by ad servers and web analytics companies, among others.

The IAB board has apparently been cautious regarding the issue, not wanting to take action until determining whether cookie rejection is increasing or decreasing.

The IAB research observed actual consumer behavior rather than depend on self-reporting. Studies on cookie deletion rates have varied widely. In March 2005, Jupiter Research reported a 39 percent deletion rate, whereas WebTrends last year reported that some 12 percent of consumers delete cookies.

The Long Cookie-Crumb Trail:

- Web Users' Distaste of Cookies Eases
- Kanoodle to Pay Publishers for Cookie Delivery
- One-Third of Web Users Run Cookie-Deleting Anti-Virus Software
- Survey: Consumers (Still) Misconstrue Cookies
- Nielsen Accounts for Cookie Deletion in Visitor Count
- Tacoda CEO: Publishers Must Confront Intractable Cookie Problem
- eMarketer: Fear Not the Cookie Monster
- Jupiter: Wealthy, Web-Experienced Users Delete Cookies Most
- Making Cookies Digestible for Users
- WebTrends: Despite Net Ad Boom, Confidence in Web Metrics Shaky
- Burst Cookie Survey: Consumers 'Don't Understand, Say Maybe Useful, But Some Delete Anyhow'
- Study: Quadruple the Number of Visitors Rejecting Third-Party Cookies
- Safecount Launched to Save Cookies, Back Safe Measurement
- Study: 27 Percent Weekly Clearing Cookies
- InsightExpress: Rumors of Cookie Demise Still Greatly Exaggerated
- Cookie Death Small Potatoes, More Product of Spyware Measures
- Atlas: Cookie Deletion Figures Exaggerated Wildly by Self-Reported Data
- Macromedia CTO: Yeah, Flash Makes for Good Cookie Replacements
- Cookie Death Causes Search for Successor
- Cookie Death Partly Due to 'Anti-Spyware' Tools
- Tacoda Tech Replaces Deleted Cookies
- Many Delete Cookies, Invalidate Ad Measurements
- House Removes Threat to Cookies in Spyware Bill