Targeting Cookies

Cookies that track user browsing behavior across websites to build profiles for delivering personalized advertisements, also called advertising or marketing cookies. These cookies collect information about pages visited, time spent, links clicked, and purchases made, enabling advertisers to show relevant ads based on inferred interests. Targeting cookies are typically placed by advertising networks and track users across multiple publisher websites. From a privacy perspective, targeting cookies present significant concerns: they enable extensive behavioral profiling, track users without obvious visibility, persist across sessions and sites, and aggregate data revealing sensitive information. Under GDPR and ePrivacy Directive, targeting cookies require explicit consent before placement. Organizations using targeting cookies should: obtain valid consent through compliant cookie banners, provide clear information about targeting practices in cookie policies, offer granular control over advertising cookies, honor opt-out preferences including Global Privacy Control, implement limited retention periods, and regularly audit advertising vendors' practices. Many browsers now block third-party targeting cookies by default, forcing industry evolution toward privacy-preserving alternatives.