What’s the difference between a first-party and a third-party cookie?
First-party cookies
Cookies that are generated and stored by a website a user visits are called first-party cookies. Website publishers use first-party cookies to collect data about the visitor’s behaviour and interests. First-party here refers to the domain that a user visits i.e. only the website publisher have access to these cookies.
Third-party cookies
Cookies that are generated and stored by a different website other than the one the user is visiting are called third-party cookies. Third-party cookies are created when a user visits a website that includes elements from other sites, such as third-party images or ads. These cookies track similar information as first-party cookies but are primarily used for ad retargeting.
First-party cookies | Third-party cookies | |
Set by | Website publisher | Affiliate networks and advertisers (like Facebook, Amazon, AdSense) |
Purpose | Improve user experience | Retarget users with custom ads |
Tracks | Tracks users only on one domain | Tracks users across different domains |
How to disable | Block/delete from browser settings | Block/delete from browser settings |