What is the TapAd_3WAY_SYNCS cookie?
This cookie is used by Tapad's identity resolution platform to synchronize user identifiers with third-party advertising networks to enable cross-device tracking.
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About TapAd_3WAY_SYNCS
| Vendor | Tapad |
|---|---|
| Cookie Domain | tapad.com |
| Category Category The functional category of the technology, such as Web Analytics or Social Media. Learn more | Social 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 16.3% 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://www.tapad.com/privacy |
| Vendor Website | https://www.tapad.com/ |
What is the purpose of TapAd_3WAY_SYNCS?
The TapAd_3WAY_SYNCS cookie is a third-party tracking identifier set by Tapad (a digital identity resolution provider acquired by Experian in 2020, still operating under the Tapad brand). It facilitates cookie syncing ('3-way syncs'), an ad-tech process that matches Tapad's unique device identifiers with those of its third-party advertising partners (such as The Trade Desk or AppNexus). This synchronization allows advertisers to build unified cross-device consumer profiles (known as The Tapad Graph), enabling more accurate audience segmentation, frequency capping, and cross-screen attribution for programmatic advertising campaigns.
What are the Privacy Risks of TapAd_3WAY_SYNCS?
Risk Level: High
This cookie enables cross-domain and cross-device user tracking by persistently syncing identifiers with multiple third-party advertising exchanges. Because it is explicitly designed to build behavioral profiles and share this tracking data with ad-tech vendors, it poses a high privacy risk and requires strict active consent mechanisms under privacy frameworks like GDPR and CCPA.
How to Remove TapAd_3WAY_SYNCS from a Website
Since TapAd_3WAY_SYNCS is set as a third-party cookie via Tapad's pixel domain (pixel.tapad.com), it cannot be removed directly. Site administrators must remove the advertising partner or tag manager responsible for initiating the Tapad request.