--------------------------- Title: What Are Third-Party Cookies? How They Work and What Happens Next URL: https://www.cookiebot.com/us/what-are-third-party-cookies/ --------------------------- # What Are Third-Party Cookies? How They Work and What Happens Next ## At a Glance - Third-party cookies are not set by your own team, but by external domains through scripts embedded on your site. - Under the GDPR and ePrivacy Directive, third-party cookies almost always require prior, informed consent before they can activate. - As the website operator, you are legally responsible for every cookie running on your site, including those placed by third parties. - Browsers are moving in different directions on third-party cookie support, but consent requirements remain consistent regardless of what each browser does. - Knowing which third-party cookies are on your site is the first step toward managing them properly. A third-party cookie is a browser cookie set by a company other than the owner of the website a visitor is browsing. It usually comes from an external service you've chosen to add to your site, such as an analytics platform, advertising network, social media plugin, or live chat widget. Although those cookies are created by someone else's technology, they become your responsibility the moment you embed that technology on your website. This is why it’s essential for website owners to know what they do, how they work, and how to manage them. ## What Is a Third-Party Cookie? A third-party cookie is a cookie set by a domain that’s not the website a visitor is currently on. It typically comes from a script or piece of code that the website has embedded from another company. For example, an ad network, social media plugin, analytics tool, or chatbot widget often adds a third-party cookie to a webpage. The “third party” in the name refers to the company that sets the cookie. The visitor is one party, the website they are visiting is another, and any outside company whose code runs on that website is a third party. ### First-Party and Third-Party Cookies: What’s the Difference? Although first-party and third-party cookies use the same underlying browser technology, they work in different ways, which is why privacy regulations often treat them differently. - **First-party cookies** — Created by the website a user is visiting, such as your own domain. They help improve the user experience by remembering things like login details, language preferences, or items in a shopping cart. Because they usually support essential website functionality rather than cross-site tracking, they are generally subject to fewer privacy requirements. - **Third-party cookies** — Created by external domains, and can track visitors across multiple websites. This enables companies to build a broader picture of online behavior, making these cookies useful for targeted advertising and behavioral analytics. However, because they enable cross-site tracking, they are typically subject to stricter privacy rules and consent requirements. ## What Are Third-Party Cookies Used For on Websites? Third-party cookies are created by domains other than the website a visitor is browsing, allowing external services to recognize visitors and process data through that site. Exactly how they're used depends on the service that sets them. ### Advertising and Personalization Advertising platforms use [tracking cookies](/us/tracking-cookies/) to measure campaign performance, build audience profiles, and deliver personalized ads across multiple websites. They also enable retargeting by recognizing visitors who have previously interacted with a site. ### Cross-Site Analytics Some analytics providers use third-party cookies to measure visitor behavior across multiple websites rather than just a single domain, giving businesses broader insights into user journeys and campaign effectiveness. ### Social Media Features Embedded social media content, such as share buttons, videos, or feeds, can use third-party cookies to recognize visitors, enable platform features, and measure engagement with embedded content. ### Embedded Third-Party Services External tools like live chat, customer support widgets, maps, video players, booking systems, and other embedded services often use third-party cookies to remember visitors, maintain sessions, and provide their functionality. ## How Do Third-Party Cookies Work? Third-party cookies work by attaching a small piece of identifying information to your browser rather than to any single website. The process unfolds in a few straightforward steps. - **Visitor Loads Your Page** — A visitor opens your website, and their browser loads your content along with any third-party services embedded on the page, such as ad networks, analytics tools, or chat widgets. - **Third Party Sets Its Own Cookie** — As those embedded services load, they ask the browser to save a cookie belonging to them, not to your website. - **Visitor Moves to Another Site** — The visitor later browses to a different website that happens to use the same third-party service. - **Browser Returns the Cookie** — The browser sends the previously stored cookie back to that third-party service, since the cookie belongs to it rather than to either website. - **Third Party Recognizes the Visitor** — Because the cookie matches, the third party knows it has encountered this visitor before, even across separate sites. - **Data Put to Use** — The third party can use that recognition for advertising, analytics, or remembering prior interactions. ## Why Do Third-Party Cookies Require Consent? Most third-party cookies are used for purposes that go beyond the basic operation of a website. Because they are not considered strictly necessary, privacy laws generally require a visitor's permission before they can be set. Under the [General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)](/us/gdpr/) and the [ePrivacy Directive](/us/eprivacy-regulation/), consent must be obtained before non-essential cookies are placed on a visitor's device. It must also be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous. Visitors must be able to refuse cookies as easily as they accept them, and non-essential third-party scripts must remain blocked until a choice has been made. Even though the cookies are set by a third party, responsibility does not transfer to the vendor. If you choose to embed a third-party service on your website, you share responsibility for the personal data it collects through that integration. In other words, the vendor provides the technology, but you are responsible for deploying it. Outside the EU, the rules differ, but the underlying principle is similar. Under U.S. state privacy laws, including the [California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)](/us/cpra/), disclosing visitor data to third parties through embedded scripts may be treated as a sale or sharing of personal information. Depending on the law that applies, this can create disclosure and opt-out obligations in addition to any consent requirements. ## Where Do Third-Party Cookies Appear on Your Website? Third-party cookies can be introduced anywhere your website loads content from another company. They are often added through tools and services that appear to be part of your website, even though they are served by an external provider. Common sources include: - **Tag managers** — Every tag you publish through a tag manager has the potential to load third-party scripts and set cookies. - **Embedded widgets** — Live chat, social sharing buttons, comment sections, maps, videos, and other embedded features commonly set third-party cookies. - **Advertising and retargeting tags** — Advertising platforms often place cookies as soon as their scripts load unless they are blocked until consent is given. - **Analytics tools** — Some third-party analytics providers use cookies to recognize visitors across multiple websites. - **Other third-party resources** — Fonts, CDNs, and other external services may also set cookies, depending on how they are implemented. Because these scripts are controlled by third-party providers, their behavior can change over time. A service that does not set a particular cookie today may begin doing so after an update, even if your own website has not changed. That's one reason websites should regularly audit the third-party scripts they rely on. ## How to Know Which Third-Party Cookies Your Website Uses? Third-party cookies are easy to lose track of. They can be introduced by advertising tags, analytics tools, embedded widgets, tag managers, and other third-party services, often without being documented or reviewed later. As a result, most website operators cannot accurately list every third-party cookie currently running on their site. A cookie scanner checks your website the same way a visitor's browser would. It identifies the cookies that are actually being set, shows which domains they come from, categorizes their purpose, and highlights whether they are loading before consent has been given. That gives you a reliable inventory of the third-party cookies your website is using, rather than relying on outdated documentation or manual checks. ## What cookies are active on your website? Cookiebot scans your website for free and reports on all cookies and trackers in use, including third-party cookies and the ones that load before consent is given. [Start Scan](https://www.cookiebot.com/us/cookie-checker/) ## What Is Happening to Third-Party Cookies and What Those Changes Mean for Website Owners? Third-party cookies are not disappearing overnight. While some browsers have blocked them for years, others continue to support them. As a result, websites still need to account for third-party cookies in both their technical setup and their privacy compliance. Safari and Firefox block third-party cookies by default. Chrome has taken a different approach. Although Google previously announced plans to phase out third-party cookies, it later changed direction. Third-party cookies remain available in Chrome, and users can manage their preferences through Chrome's settings. For website operators, the bigger change is not browser support but regulatory expectations. Even if some visitors use browsers that block third-party cookies automatically, others will still encounter them. That means websites must continue to obtain consent before non-essential third-party cookies are set and keep their privacy disclosures accurate about how visitor data is collected and shared. ## How to Best Manage Third-Party Cookies? Managing third-party cookies is an ongoing process rather than a one-time setup. New integrations, vendor updates, and evolving privacy requirements can all affect how your website collects and processes visitor data. ### Scan Your Website Regularly Third-party scripts can change over time and introduce new cookies without notice. Regular scans help you identify new cookies before they become a compliance issue. ### Block Non-Essential Scripts Until Consent Is Given Your [consent management platform (CMP)](https://usercentrics.com/knowledge-hub/cmp-definition/) should prevent non-essential third-party scripts from loading until a visitor has actively consented. If scripts load before consent, the site may be in breach of privacy laws, and the consent obtained may not be considered valid. ### Keep Your Privacy Policy Up to Date Clearly disclose the third-party services your website uses, what data they collect, why they collect it, and whether personal data is transferred outside your jurisdiction where applicable. ### Review Your Third-Party Services Regularly Remove tools you no longer need and periodically confirm that the remaining ones still behave as expected. Vendor updates can introduce new cookies or change how existing ones are used. ### Use Privacy-Friendly Alternatives Where Possible Consider first-party or cookieless analytics solutions where they meet your needs. Reducing reliance on third-party tracking can reduce compliance risk while still providing useful insights. ## Take Control of the Third-Party Cookies on Your Website Third-party cookies aren't going away anytime soon, and neither are the privacy obligations that come with them. While browsers continue to take different approaches to third-party tracking, one thing remains consistent: If you choose to embed third-party services on your website, you're responsible for how they collect and process visitor data. Understanding which third-party cookies are running on your site is the foundation of compliance. Once you know what's there, it's much easier to ensure the right cookies are blocked until consent is given and make informed decisions about the tools you use. That not only helps you meet your legal obligations but also gives website visitors greater confidence in how their data is handled. ## Stay on top of cookie and tracker management on your site Detect, categorize, and block all the cookies and trackers active on your site. Plus automatic updates as these technologies change. Try Cookiebot™ free for 14 days. 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