Cookies are crucial for any interactive marketer attempting to track online behavior, and a new study says that more consumers understand the value of cookies in their online experiences than ever before.

Digital marketing research firm InsightExpress found that 41.5 percent of consumers feel cookies are important. In a similar study conducted in 2007, 35 percent of respondents felt cookies were important.

InsightExpress largely attributes the acceptance of cookies to more knowledge about them. When respondents were asked to define cookies in their own words, six out of 10 of the responses were right on the money.

But while acceptance of cookies has grown, the ability to delete them has not. Only 30 percent of respondents said they could delete cookies effectively, a small increase from the 28 percent who answered the question similarly in 2007. The study also found that only half of consumers who tried to delete cookies were actually successful, and while consumers understand the importance and helpfulness of cookies, nearly half try to delete cookies on a weekly basis to clean up their computers.

"Cookie deletion is far less prevalent than most of us would believe," said Drew Lipner, SVP of digital media measurement at InsightExpress. "Today, we are seeing the impact of the industry’s consumer education efforts as the percent of individuals who value cookies continues to increase steadily."