Third-Party Cookies
What does third-party cookie mean?
A third-party cookie is set by a domain other than the one a user is visiting. They are widely used for advertising, retargeting, analytics, and social media integration.
How do third-party cookies work?
When a website loads external content—such as ad networks, social widgets, or analytics scripts—those third-party services set cookies that can track users across multiple sites.
Why is it important?
Because of their invasive nature, third-party cookies are heavily restricted under privacy laws and are being blocked by major browsers.
FAQs about third-party cookies
No, but they are subject to strict consent requirements under laws like GDPR and CPRA. They are also increasingly impractical as browsers block them by default.
Safari and Firefox already block them. Chrome has announced its phase-out but has delayed the final cutoff several times. Businesses must prepare alternatives now.
Alternatives include contextual advertising, first-party data strategies, Google’s Privacy Sandbox, and technologies like federated learning.
Yes. Most jurisdictions require explicit, informed consent before third-party cookies can be placed.
Loss of ad targeting capabilities, reduced measurement accuracy, and competitive disadvantage in digital advertising.