# Tracking Anonymous Users

This feature enables you to track users before they register with your site, meaning you can present personalized content to an anonymous user over multiple sessions. You can also persist information about a user's behavior, provided cookies are enabled on the user's browser. This feature can be parameterized to exclude those who spend less than a designated period of time on your site, avoiding the expense of storing data on irrelevant users. Finally, should a tracked anonymous user choose to register with your site, the data collected on that user is persisted in the account of the newly-registered user.

## Five User Profile Types for User Tracking

If Anonymous User Tracking is not enabled, users who visit the site without registering will be considered ANONYMOUS. If it is enabled, such users would be considered TRACKABLE on the first visit.

If a TRACKABLE anonymous user remains at a site longer than the specified duration, the user is converted automatically into a TRACKED anonymous user, and a cookie with the tracking id is given to the user. That id is used as the primary key of the tracking EJBs associated with that user, so that when the session ends, the user’s properties are persisted and available for the next visit.

If this TRACKED anonymous user returns, the tracking id in the user's cookie is used to retrieve the user properties from the database, and those properties may be used to enable campaigns to be run against the user.

Finally, if a TRACKED anonymous user registers at the site, the tracking data is transferred to the newly created user (now considered a REGISTERED user) and deleted from the anonymous user.

The final user profile type is UNKNOWN, which designates users whose status cannot be determined.

## Tracking Based on Visit Duration

Because users don't always remain at a site long enough to demonstrate interest, the duration of the initial visit is used as a configurable trigger. If this value is set to 30 seconds, a user that leaves after 25 seconds would not be remembered on the next visit to the same site. A 30-second or more user would be remembered, even without having registered.

This parameter is set by editing the web.xml file.

Related Topics

Creating Anonymous User Profiles

Adding Personalization and Interaction Management to a Portal