It was born into a world where the web was stateless by design. This feature made the internet fast and flexible, but gave it a case of permanent amnesia: No webpage remembered anything users did before.
The cookie solved this problem, allowing for shopping carts and pre-filled user IDs – and targeted ads.
It quickly became the go-to ID for ad servers, ad networks, exchanges and retargeters, allowing publishers and ad tech partners to recognize browsers and stitch together partial anonymous profiles.
But how did the cookie come to be and where did it lose its way?
Early life and mission
The cookie was born in October 1994 in the offices of Netscape in Mountain View, California. Its parents were Lou Montulli and John Giannandrea, both talented engineers in their 20s.
Montulli, in particular, took responsibility for the young cookie’s development. Athletic, charismatic and unpretentious, Montulli was runner-up for People’s Sexiest Man Alive title in 1999.
|