Cookie vs. cookieless tracking method
As of Koko Analytics version 1.8, the plugin comes with a setting that lets you choose which tracking method to use.
You can choose between cookie, cookieless or none at all. Which method to use? In this article we’ll explain the pros and cons of each of these methods and how they work.
Cookie based tracking
The default tracking method is to use a single cookie with a maximum lifetime of 24 hours. The cookie value includes a list of pages visited by this particular user.
Pro’s:
- Very accurate, as each client is guaranteed to be counted as a separate visitor.
- Very private, as there is nothing stored or even processed on the server-side.
- Browsers have great built-in tooling for managing cookies. A user can simply clear his cookies to be counted as a new visitor on your website.
Cons:
- May require a cookie policy and/or consent to store cookies depending on your site’s jurisdiction.
Cookieless tracking
This method uses a form of fingerprinting to store a list of pages visited by each visitor on your server. The plugin creates a one-way hash consisting of your visitor’s IP address, user agent and a daily rotating secret.
This way, the plugin doesn’t have to store the user agent or IP address itself and can not link visits across multiple days to the same visitor. The entire storage directory is wiped at midnight.
Pro’s:
- Does not require a cookie policy and/or consent.
Cons:
- May count two identical devices from the same network connection as a single visitor.
Neither
If you want to keep things simple, you can choose to simply not detect returning visitors and unique pageviews at all.
Pro’s:
- Simple. Fast. Private.
Cons:
- You lose access to the “unique pageviews” and “visitors” metric. The plugin will simply count the total numbers of pageviews to each page.