How do cookies benefit users while browsing?

Cookies provide significant benefits to users while browsing primarily by storing user preferences and session data. When a user visits a website for the first time, cookies can remember specific information about their interactions. This includes items like login credentials, language choices, and shopping cart items. By retaining these preferences, cookies enable a more personalized and streamlined experience during subsequent visits, as users do not need to re-enter their information each time they visit a site.

For example, if a user adds items to an online shopping cart, cookies can remember these selections even when the user navigates away or leaves the site and returns later. This functionality enhances user convenience and improves overall satisfaction while using websites.

The other options do not accurately reflect how cookies work in relation to user experience. While speeding up the loading of web pages might be influenced by other factors such as caching or server responses, cookies themselves do not directly speed up page loads. Similarly, compressing files on the server is a different technical function unrelated to how cookies operate. Lastly, while cookies can influence tracking for targeted advertising, their primary role does not include preventing ad tracking; instead, they can enable it by allowing advertisers to collect user data based on previous browsing habits.