What the most popular websites load in the background
Number of unique tracking services observed on eight popular websites,* along with their purposes.
Advertising
Services that perform data collection, behavioral analysis, and user retargeting for advertising purposes. Customer Interaction
Chat widgets, customer support, and other interaction tools. Audio/Video Player
Most audio and video players used on websites. Extensions
Software that intercepts, redirects, and analyzes browser requests. These include browser hijacking extensions, but also legitimate applications like anti-virus software. Hosting
Services that provide access to websites. Site Analytics
Data analytics, site usage, and performance trackers. Social Media
Features related to social media platforms, for example a script used to embed a content feed on another site. Utilities
Site requests that may be critical to website functionality, such as tag managers and privacy notices. Miscellaneous
Different types of unclassified trackers. * These are most-visited sites as recorded by the ad-blocking browser plugin Ghostery through anonymous statistics from its users, which are not necessarily representative of all internet users. Data from whotracks.me is licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Includes data from TrackerDB, licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0.
Services that perform data collection, behavioral analysis, and user retargeting for advertising purposes. Customer Interaction
Chat widgets, customer support, and other interaction tools. Audio/Video Player
Most audio and video players used on websites. Extensions
Software that intercepts, redirects, and analyzes browser requests. These include browser hijacking extensions, but also legitimate applications like anti-virus software. Hosting
Services that provide access to websites. Site Analytics
Data analytics, site usage, and performance trackers. Social Media
Features related to social media platforms, for example a script used to embed a content feed on another site. Utilities
Site requests that may be critical to website functionality, such as tag managers and privacy notices. Miscellaneous
Different types of unclassified trackers. * These are most-visited sites as recorded by the ad-blocking browser plugin Ghostery through anonymous statistics from its users, which are not necessarily representative of all internet users. Data from whotracks.me is licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Includes data from TrackerDB, licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0.
Chart: Jona PomeranceSource: Ghostery / whotracks.me (Dec 2024)