__utma Cookie: What Does it Do?

Have you ever opened up a website and clicked on the accept all cookies option, then wondered what exactly that means and which cookies they are referring to? There are plenty of cookies that websites use to improve user experience and gather important user statistics.

The __utma cookie is an important cookie used on websites because it gathers essential data for Google Analytics to calculate Days and Visits to purchase something on a website. But how is it used?

Let’s find out here.

What is the _utma Cookie?

Created by Google Analytics, the __utma cookie is used to track the number of times a user has visited the website. The cookie will calculate how many days and visits it takes a user to make a purchase on the website by keeping track of when their first and last visit was in relation to their purchase.

Businesses like e-commerce websites can use this collected data to see which purchasing sales funnels work best, which need improvement and how long it takes for online leads to be converted into sales.

How long does __utma cookie last?

The __utma cookie is known as a persistent cookie, which is just another way of saying that it never expires. Well, technically, it does expire, but only in 2038, which in cookie years is pretty much forever.

Every time a user joins a session or visits your website, the cookie is updated and sent to Google Analytics. This is because the __utma cookie assigns a client ID to the user, which will be used for all their future visits. However, if that user deletes these cookies from their website, they’ll be deleting their history with the website, so the next time they visit, they’re assigned a new client ID.

Last Words

If you are using __utma cookies on your website to create a client ID that is used to track your users, you need to ensure that you are providing users with a cookie policy and that users provide consent to the cookies.

Knowing how to utilize Google Analytics’s tools like cookies is a great way to improve the way your online business tracks statistics.

If you are a user, know that this cookie does not collect PII and you can choose to delete this cookie anytime in your browser settings.