Third-Party Ad
What Is a Third-Party Ad
A third-party ad is an advertisement that is managed and served by an entity other than the website or platform on which it appears.
Unlike first-party advertising, where the ads are placed by the website itself (often promoting the website owner’s products or services), third-party ads come from an external advertising agency or ad network that delivers ads on various digital platforms that they do not necessarily own.
These third-party companies typically use cookies and tracking technologies to gather user data across multiple sites. This method enables them to target ads more effectively based on user behavior, preferences, and demographics. Collecting and using data like this also negatively impacts user privacy.
Third-party definition
A third-party ad is a Web ad whose content is loaded from a different domain than the page showing the ad. The domain is the part of the URL after the “://” and before the next slash. For example, the domain of this page’s URL is “brave.com.” The opposite of a third-party ad is a first-party ad, which is loaded from the same domain as the page showing the ad. – Brave
Third-Party vs First-Party Ads
Third-party ads are ads served by a domain other than the website the user is visiting. The ads are managed on external servers operated by separate entities, usually advertising networks.
This arrangement enables these networks to monitor user activities across various websites, which helps deliver targeted advertisements based on the user’s previous internet browsing history.
Example: If you are on example.com and encounter an ad from adnetwork.com, this is a third-party ad.
First-party ads are delivered from the same domain as the website the user is currently viewing. This setup means that the website directly hosts both its content and the ads, all under the same server or domain.
First party ads allow website owners enhanced control over the content of advertisements and their integration with the website’s user experience.
Example: If you are browsing example.com and notice an ad also hosted by example.com, this is an example of a first-party ad.
Privacy and Tracking Concerns
First-party ads are better for consumer privacy than third-party ads. They are hosted by the same domain the consumer is visiting, reducing the likelihood of extensive cross-site tracking.
Website owners that utilize first-party advertising often manage user data directly, avoiding the need to share it with external parties. This approach can enhance trust among users who are wary of their privacy.
How to Improve Your Privacy When Dealing with Third-Party Ads
Follow the below steps to improve your privacy and reduce the number of third-party ads you see:
- Use privacy tools. Tools like uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger can block many forms of third-party ads and the trackers they use.
- Try a more private browser. Some browsers automatically block third-party trackers and ads to enhance user privacy.
- Adjust browser settings. Many modern browsers allow you to block third-party cookies. Limiting these can prevent ad networks from tracking your browsing activity across different sites.
- Manage cookies and site data. Regularly clear cookies and site data or use tools that do this automatically.
- Adjust social media ad settings. Major social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow you to adjust settings related to ad preferences and data sharing. Take the time to customize these to limit how much information is used for advertising purposes.
