What is the anj cookie?
This cookie is used to synchronize device identifiers with advertising partners to facilitate targeted advertising and audience data exchange.
Table of Contents
About anj
| Vendor | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Cookie Domain | adnxs.com |
| Category Category The functional category of the technology, such as Web Analytics or Social Media. Learn more | Advertising & Paid Media |
| Consent Category Consent Category The consent category this cookie most commonly falls under across sites we scan, normalized into four standard categories. Learn more | Targeting & Advertising |
| Prevalence | Very Common |
| Popularity Popularity Popularity is calculated from our dataset of 4.5B+ cookies analyzed across hundreds of millions of web pages. Learn more | Found on 12.9% of scanned pages |
| Expiration Type | Timestamp |
| Expiration Duration | 29 days |
| Party Type Party Type Whether the cookie is first-party or third-party. Learn more | 3rd-Party |
| Risk Level Risk Level Rates how sensitive the data stored by this cookie is (High, Medium, or Low) based on data classification and distribution. Learn more | High |
| Vendor Privacy Policy | https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement |
| Vendor Website | https://www.microsoft.com |
What is the purpose of anj?
The anj cookie is a third-party advertising cookie set by the Xandr programmatic platform (formerly AppNexus, now part of Microsoft Advertising since 2022). It contains data that denotes whether a user's unique cookie ID has been synchronized with the vendor's external programmatic marketing and ad-tech partners. ID synchronization is a core function of real-time bidding (RTB) ecosystems, enabling Microsoft Advertising and its demand-side partners to match user profiles from outside the platform with their own internal user profiles. By ensuring these IDs are synced, the platform can effectively utilize third-party audience data, execute cross-site tracking, and deliver highly personalized, targeted advertisements across the web.
What are the Privacy Risks of anj?
Risk Level: High
This cookie is used for programmatic advertising and cross-site tracking. By synchronizing identifiers with numerous third-party demand-side platforms and data partners, it shares information regarding the user's browsing behavior across the web. This extensive data sharing and profiling to serve targeted advertisements poses a high privacy risk to users.
How to Remove anj from a Website
To remove this cookie, website administrators must remove the Xandr (AppNexus) Universal Pixel, conversion pixels, or programmatic header bidding integrations (e.g., Prebid.js) that load the Microsoft Advertising ecosystem. Furthermore, operators can review configurations within their Microsoft Advertising or Xandr monetization account to restrict third-party cookie synchronization if supported. If the tag is required for programmatic monetization through this vendor, the cookie cannot be entirely removed without disabling the ad technology service.